“Which herbs should a beginner grow on a windowsill?”

Dear Black Thumb,

A sunny windowsill is a fine beginning, and the herbs below are forgiving.

Mint is the great optimist of the herb world and is happy in a pot (keep it in a pot, as it spreads eagerly in the ground). Chives are tidy, cheerful and hard to ruin. Parsley takes patience to germinate but rewards you for months. Thyme and sage like plenty of light and dislike wet feet, so water when the soil has dried a little rather than on a schedule.

A note on the "old-world charm." Many of these plants have long histories in kitchens and gardens, and in folk traditions. Rosemary, for instance, appears in European literature as a symbol of remembrance. That is folklore and literary tradition, which is lovely and worth knowing, and quite separate from any claim about what a plant does in the body. If you ever wish to use a herb for health reasons, please treat the traditional uses as history and speak with a qualified health professional first.

Practical matters: use pots with drainage holes, a light potting mix, and the sunniest window you have. Pinch growth regularly, because gentle harvesting keeps the plants bushy. If something dies, note what happened and try again. Every gardener has a graveyard.

You can learn a great deal from botanical references such as Kew's Plants of the World Online, which will tell you how a plant is correctly named and where it comes from.

With warmth, The Wise Woman