We eat at home about 90% of the time, aiming to save money and focus on our health. We’ve been counting macros and exploring fresh recipes for years, which has found us in a very routine pattern of eating the same things continuously. While boring, this works really well for us, and I do what I can to add extra flair!

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One of my favorite ways to elevate dishes is by using fresh herbs. The burst of flavor and delightful kitchen aroma they provide is unparalleled. However, the downside is how quickly they spoil in the fridge, leaving me to frequently discard containers of slimy herb sludge during fridge clean-ups.

To solve this issue, I’ve introduced my own hydroponic garden at home, which allows me to grow herbs in a short amount of time, and harvest and cook with them at my own convince. It’s a simple tool that allows us to find more enjoyment in our dishes, while also saving money for our beloved hobby of traveling.

What is a hydroponic garden?

A hydroponic garden is a system that uses only water to grow plants. This makes it perfect for growing all year long, in a small space in your home, I keep mine on the kitchen counter. It requires little maintenance, thankfully, since I tend to kill plants, and only needs a little plant food and water periodically added to the system.

If you never seen one of these before, I have a feeling your about to being doing some Googling! I purchased mine off Amazon a few years ago and have used it over and over to grow tomatoes, dill, cilantro, parsley and basil. The system I currently have is no longer available but you can check out a similar one here, that comes will all the supplies you would need to get started.

To use the system you simply add your seeds to the pods, which go inside the plastic containers and place them in the openings on your system. Fill it with water and the recommended plant food and wait for the magic to happen!

Here’s a link to the plant food I use: https://amzn.to/3ydneMJ

Harvesting herbs

Currently, I have been growing parsley and basil, both which were ready for a harvest a few weeks ago. I took some videos and photos of this process to show how easy, and cheap, it can be to have a little fun in the kitchen and ensure you always have fresh herbs for cooking.

To start, I harvested both of the herbs. If you haven’t done this before, I recommend ensuring you have a plan before going all in with the scissors. How you cut them makes a big difference in their continued growth. For these particular herbs,  I knew I needed to cut the parsley stems that are on the outside of the plants and the basil from the top, right above where new growth is branching out.

After harvesting, I washed the herbs (I don’t know why this is necessary since they are sitting on my own counter in a bug free, mostly clean, home but the internet says were supposed to) and dried them with paper towel to get out the access water.

Different Uses

There are so many different things you can do with herbs! The easiest is to just cut what you need while making a dish. But often, they grow faster than I can handle. I have some herb tricks up my sleeve for when this happens.

Freezing parsley

When I don’t need parsley right away, I like to put it in the freezer for the future. I chop them up really fine and add them to an ice cube tray with some olive oil. Last time, I added a little fresh garlic to some of them to test it, and placed it in the freezer. I finally had a need for some the other night while making chicken alfredo and the pieces with the added garlic were a delicious way to enhance the dish.

Making pesto with basil

Basil is such a fun herb! I like to get a little more creative with it and lately I’ve been seeing pesto videos everywhere so I’ve been waiting this whole harvest to make it! I add the basil leaves with some olive oil, pine nuts, and garlic to my Ninja Foodi blender, and Pesto! I don’t have a specific recipe because I eyeball everything, but there are plenty of them out there if you’re looking for specific amounts. I’ve also added spinach in the past to add in some extra protein and stretch the batch further.

Once you have some beautiful green goodness, I highly recommend pesto pizza! Homemade pizza night is one of my favorite memories from childhood and I love incorporating it into my adult life. During my most recent harvest I whipped up some homemade dough in my Kitchen Aid and topped it will mozzarella and all of the random veggies in the fridge that were calling my name.

I’m always on the lookout for more ways to incorporate herbs so we can enjoy our food and save money in the kitchen! If you start your own countertop garden, I’d love to hear about it!

Until the next wave,

Paige