Here’s a question: what makes food good to eat? And the answer: flavor! Fresh herbs like oregano (delightful on pizzas), thyme (great with fish), basil (delicious in Italian food), and parsley (great on everything!) are a simple and healthy way to make Your food will taste great, and having a garden is an easy way to have year-round access to your favorite herbs.

The best part about having easy access to fresh herbs in your home is that if you make the food you cook taste good, you and your family will be much less tempted to eat fast food or packaged and prepared foods, which are typically high in unhealthy salt and fat.

You don’t need a green thumb to grow herbs indoors. In fact, all you need to do is follow a few rules. Here are some important ones:

Placement. Since most of the herbs you will grow are originally of sunny Mediterranean extraction, they should be placed near the brightest window in your house. A window sill is often a convenient spot (place plates under the pots, though, to protect the wood). Take care that they don’t get too much direct sun during the hot summer months, but otherwise they will thrive on getting as much light as possible. You may need to install fluorescent grow lights to supplement natural light if you find that your herbs are not thriving.

Irrigation. Herb pots will need to be watered regularly (pour the water slowly until you see it coming out of the holes in the bottom of the pot), but it’s very important to let them dry completely between times. If they wilt then you have let them dry out too much, but the water will revive them as long as you give them to them as soon as you notice them drooping. If you don’t let your herbs dry out, their roots will rot and die very quickly. This is the number 1 killer of all houseplants. You have been warned!

Pest control. Plants have bugs from time to time, it’s just a fact of life. You really don’t want to spray anything on a plant you plan to eat, so a really simple way to get rid of pests that doesn’t involve sprays is to just completely submerge the plant(s) in water, drowning pets. Leave them under water for about 15 minutes to make sure all the bugs are dead.

So there you have it: not too hard! A little care and attention and you’ll be enjoying fresh, delicious herbs in no time. Your food will taste better, you won’t have to add as much salt or oil to your kitchen, you can throw away those glass jars of dried herbs… and you’ll feel like a real chef!