It’s almost outrageous to think of spending R7 to R10 on 30g of cut herbs in a supermarket when they can easily be cultivated in pots on a moderately sunny windowsill or balcony.

It’s also less wasteful and environmentally friendly to grow your own as you only use what you want, when you want. Lets be honest, how many times have you thrown away that excess sage that sat in the back of the fridge till it was no longer identifiable as an animal, vegetable or mineral? Exactly.

My top picks for easy-to-grow, useful everyday herbs include parsley, mint, thyme, origanum, sage and sweet basil. All of which can be purchased in 12cm pots from most garden nurseries for under R20 each, providing months/years of on-demand herbaceous goodness.

One caveat is that sweet basil is seasonal, though spring is a great time to grab a pot and keeping it indoors will extend its growing season into winter, where outdoors it would start to die back. An alternative is to use a perennial (all year round) basil type like Thai basil, but it’s quite woody and doesn’t lend itself to that classic Caprese salad, but will get you by in a pinch.

The herbs will be well potted and have a good mix of potting soil to sustain them so location and watering are going to be your primary concerns.

As shared in my print article, north facing is best and preferably getting 6+ hours of direct sunlight.

With regards to water, pots are easy to over water without good drainage, so make sure you don’t water log them and get rid of any excess water in the drip trays, which can lead to root rot and mold.

In my next post I’ll cover a couple starter vegetables and set you on your way to becoming a green-fingered, food-growing expert.

Matt Allison is a Cape Town based eco-advocate and urban farmer who's rethinking food one meal at a time. Find out more from him at www.imnojamieoliver.com