From an article by Catherine Winter
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/how-grow-food-indoors-winter.html
There’s nothing quite like being able to pick fresh vegetables and herbs right from your garden, but that really isn’t much of an option when it’s 10 degrees and snowing outside, is it? Well, it can be. You’d be surprised what you can grow indoors over the winter months. Here’s what you need and some ideas to get you started:
- High-quality potting soil
- Containers (planters and pots, or even empty cans and jars)
- Vegetable and herb seeds
- Twine (if growing beans)
- A light, or a sunny spot that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight
Lettuce
You can grow an assortment of lettuces in a simple window box that you place on a sill, or on a table close to a sunny window. Just get yourself a packet of mixed cut-and-grow-again lettuce seeds, fill that planter with soil, and sow the seeds according to the packet’s instructions. You should see sprouts within a week, and within a month, you’ll have lovely lettuce leaves to gnaw on.
Kale and Cabbage
Like lettuces, brassicas are notoriously easy to grow, and do well all through the winter months. To grow them inside, follow the same instructions as with the lettuces, only sow the seeds a bit further apart, as these plants need more room to grow than lettuces do.
Arugula
Sharp and spicy, this leafy green is a wonderful treat any time of year, and is as great on sandwiches as it is in soups and salads. Sow it generously in a window box or planter, but don’t water it too much: it’s easy to drown arugula roots. As soon as the leaves are a few inches tall, clip down down near the root; the leaves tend to get bitter when they get larger, and if you just cut them back, they should re-grow.
Tomatoes and Peppers
You can actually grow these a couple of different ways: in a windowsill planter or in an upside-down planter. (see balconygardenweb.com/diy-upside-down-planters-ideas/) The latter is my favorite method, as it allows the plant to channel all of its energy into growing fruit, rather than pushing itself upright. Considering that winter sunlight isn’t anywhere near as strong or warm as it is in summertime, this really is the best option.
Beans
Not only are these the easiest things in the world to grow, they can also be quite pretty as house plants. My favorite way to grow beans is to stretch twine over a frame, and secure that to a window. Sure, as the beans grow they’ll obscure a bit of the view, but enough light still gets through to illuminate the indoors, and seeing all of that greenery in the dead of winter is really quite lovely. If you don’t want to go the twine route, you can just stick long bamboo poles into the pot of soil, and lean those against a wall.
Culinary Herbs
It’s lovely to be able to add fresh herbs to anything you’re cooking, and with the exception of dill (which needs a lot of sun and heat and is very temperamental), you should be able to grow just about any cooking herb you can imagine. Woody herbs like rosemary, thyme, and oregano do very well in window boxes, as will cilantro, winter savory, and chives.
Edible Flowers
It’s unlikely that you’d be able to grow nasturtiums or hibiscus during the winter months, but you can absolutely grow lavender, violets, calendula, and (if you’re patient) sunflowers.