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Here are the top indoor herb gardening kits available on the Web.
An Aerogarden's not for everyone of course. The good news is, there are plenty of choices for those who prefer to "old fashioned" indoor gardening at a more affordable price.
Here are the top ten indoor herb gardening kits available on the Web. While there are dozens more, these ten have been proven to be the most popular and the highest quality ones you can find on the Web. They're available from a number of popular Internet retailers, and are ranked here in order of their quality (based on our own research, as well as compilations of online reviews).
Organic Rice Hull Herb Gardens
, available at UncommonGoods.Com,
are not only beautiful, they're great for the environment. The containers are made from grain husks, but shaped to look even more beautiful than anything made of plastic or terra cotta. They last upwards of five years, but if you ever want to throw them out, you can do so without any worries, as they are biodegradable.
They come with pots and saucers, and you can choose which seeds you wish to plan inside them: lemon basil, garlic chives, or parsley.
At only $16, it'll pay for yourself within a few weeks of your first harvest! Compare the price you'd pay in the supermarket for buying bunches of fresh herbs each week.
Rating: * * * * of * * * *
This Herb Planting Bag
, available from Gardener's Supply Company, is a huge hit in Europe, where space is definitely at a premium.
It's a clever sturdy plastic bag which holds both plants and soil security, and has plenty of room for root growth. Holes on the sides on bottom allow for good drainage and aeration (they go great on a sunny porch or patio), and sturdy handles allow you to carry the whole container of herbs to the kitchen when you're cooking, and then back to where you're growing them. It's the closest thing to having an outdoor herb garden, and with Gardener's Supply Company you can be assured that the quality will be excellent.
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The Herb Gardens in a Bag (select from Basil, Italian Parsley, Oregano, Feathery Dill, Organic Chives, or Mint) is from a company based in Idaho called Potting Shed Creations. Their kits provide everything you need in one attractive package--a planting container that's brilliant in its simplicity, soil pellets that expand to rich soil when water is added, "drainage discs" (okay, it took me a while to realize these were just styrofoam peanuts!), and of course, high quality seeds.
I had the pleasure of growing them last year. The process is simple. You unpack it--inside is everything you'll need except water. Take the styrofoam and toss enough in your container to cover the bottom--this prevents the soil from being saturated. Put the soil discs on top and when you add water, the discs magically expand and become soil. Use a plastic fork to "till" the soil. Then, simply open up the little packets of seeds, and drop them on the soil. Put the container in a warm, dark place. Within days, you'll see sprouts coming up.
Then, after a few weeks, if you've been watering your herbs and giving them sunlight, nature does the rest. Soon enough, you'll have your fill of basil for chicken or pesto, parsley for garnish and soups, or garlic chives for potatoes. Imagine harvesting these herbs all summer long and having them at your fingertips whenever you need them for a recipe!
One thing I really love about Potting Shed Creations is that while they are a successful company with a great idea, they have managed to stay decent, and humble, and nice. Last year, all of my gardens grew except for one. Without questions, they sent me a new one with their apologies. The replacement grew amazingly well, and they had a customer for life.
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If you prefer full-sized plants instead of growing from seed, this Redwood Herb Garden is available at Windowbox.Com.
It's a 12 inch wooden planter, with three grown plants of the most useful herbs for chefs: oregano, purple sage, and sweet basil (herbs may be substituted based on availability). It comes with full care instructions.
These hardy plants are a treat to all five senses. It's the perfect gift for any chef or aspiring chef, especially one who enjoys gardening.
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Despite having the most ridiculously long product name on all of Amazon.Com, this 
Indoor Culinary Herb Garden Starter Kit - Everything You Need to Start
Growing Fresh Cooking Herbs & Spices - Great Gift Idea! - Seeds: Parsley, Thyme, Cilantro, Basil, Dill,
Oregano, Sweet Marjoram, Chives, Sabory, Garlic Chives, Mustard, Sage. Rated Top Herb Garden By Wall Street
Journal Weekend Journal & Five Star Review Editors Choice
Update: the company selling this product on Amazon has since shortened the name of the product above. But not to be outdone, if you're looking for a planter to use for your indoor herb garden, they now sell the Garden Stacker Planter + Indoor Culinary Herb Garden Kit - Makes a Great Gift Idea - Grow Cooking Herbs Indoors or Outdoors Year Round - Seeds: Parsley, Thyme, Cilantro / Coriander, Basil, Dill, Oregano, Sweet Marjoram, Chives, Savory, Garlic Chives, Mustard & Sage. Includes Seed, Starter Peat Pellets, Greenhouse Dome Tray, Instructions, And Amazing Stack-A-Pot Stackable Planter: Just Stack & Grow. Stacking Planter Comes With Hanging Chain To Stack Or Hang. Includes Seed, Starter Peat Pellets, Greenhouse Dome Tray, Instructions, And Amazing Stack-A-Pot Stackable Planter: Just Stack & Grow. Stacking Planter Comes With Hanging Chain To Stack Or Hang.
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The Dunecraft Culinary Herb Garden
is a clever idea. It's like having your very own greenhouse, free from air pollutants, bugs, and other things that might get in the way of your herbs growing.
This kit contains everything needed to keep fresh herbs in your home for months. The five individual seed packs (basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, sage) contain enough seed for three or more plantings. The complete instruction manual explains how to sprout, grow, harvest, and use all of the herbs in your Culinary Herb Garden.
Rating * * * ½ of * * * *
Here's a great gift idea for chefs and gardeners alike. It's a Soup Garden
herb kit which provides everything you need to make and enjoy delicious soups.
It comes complete with a cute terra cotta planter in the shape of a soup bowl, as well as soil, three packets of premium basil, dill, and thyme seeds, instructions and recipes for great soup. Looks great on any kitchen windowsill.
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Here's a great idea to teach kids about gardening and cooking. It's the
Eggling
, an ingenious little idea that originated in Japan.
The Eggling looks and feels like a real egg (it's actually made of porous ceramic), but when you crack its top, you see a garden ready for planting! It comes with a terra cotta tray and one of four types of herb seeds: Basil, Italian Parsley, Mint, and Thyme.
Plants grow for up to five months indoors, and after that you can plant the whole Eggling outside. Each comes in a gift box.
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The
Garden at Home 3-pc. French Herb Trio
and
Garden at Home 3-pc. Italian Herb Trio
are available at Cooking.Com. The French version contains seeds for parsley, marjoram and lemon basil, along with organic soil, growing instructions, and three beauiful blue 7" cobalt glazed planters and a drip tray. The Italian version is the same, except the seeds are basil, oregano, and chives and the planter is glazed in a classic green color.
The consensus from reviews on Cooking.Com and Amazon.Com seem to indicate while the planters are beautiful, the seeds can be challenging to grow, so this is recommended only if you can put the time into taking care of them, and grow them in the perfect conditions (i.e., a sunny window which doesn't get too hot or too cold).
Rating: * * out of * * * *
Okay, sing with with me: "ch-ch-ch-chia!"
That's right, the same people who made the incredible sprouting ram, pig, puppy, and Scooby Doo have introduced Chia Herb Garden Fresh Herbs.
The Chia company combined their patented growing sponge with terra cotta pots and saucers and seeds for curled parsley, dill, chives, basil, cilantro and marjoram. The kit also includes six plant markers, complete, easy-to-follow instructions, recipes and helpful hints.
Reviews have been mixed. Some report amazing results, while others say that seeds never sprout. This is probably because when kits like this are mass-produced, they sit in a warehouse for months at a time, and of course that can affect the seeds.
Rating: * * out of * * * *
