Herbs, microgreens, and leafy greens don't care what month it is. With a decent window or a grow light, you're harvesting fresh food in January. We carry Johnny's full herb catalog — 100+ varieties — plus Baker Creek rare finds.
Research from the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association shows lemongrass oil provides near-complete mosquito repellency — outperforming citronella candles (which provide minimal protection). A pot of lemongrass on your patio does double duty: Thai soup base + natural bug deterrent. And unlike citronella plants, it's actually used in cooking. Grow one outside in summer, overwinter it indoors.
See it in the catalog below ↓We carry Johnny's full herb catalog (100+ varieties) + Baker Creek rare varieties. Most gardening apps show you 8 herbs. We show you lemon basil, chocolate mint, spicy globe, Hidcote lavender, and lemongrass — the plants actually in the seed catalogs you'd order from anyway.
Basil, parsley, cilantro, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage, mint, chives, dill, tarragon, lemon balm, lemongrass — the full Johnny's herb catalog. Most thrive in a south-facing window. Grow-lights let you skip the window lottery entirely.
The fastest harvest in gardening. Radish microgreens are ready in 5–7 days. Pea shoots in 10–12. Sprouts need no soil at all — just a jar. Perfect for January when you want something fresh and alive on your plate.
Compact lettuce varieties, kale, spinach, mizuna, arugula — varieties selected for container life. These bolt when it's hot, which means they love the cool, steady-temp environment of your home. Grow in 6–8" deep containers for real harvests.
Move your indoor-started plants outside gradually. USDA zone timing + a hardening schedule that actually works.
There's a moment every February when I walk past my south-facing window and it hits me — there's a full pot of parsley out there. It doesn't know it's February. It's just growing.
Indoor herbs changed how I think about winter. Not as a gap between gardening seasons, but as a different kind of season — quieter, more deliberate. You're not managing a half-acre of beds. You're tending six pots in a warm kitchen, cutting fresh basil into pasta at 11pm because it was three feet away.
The setup doesn't have to be complicated. A south-facing window handles most herbs from October through April. Basil wants 6+ hours of sun — get a cheap grow light if your window's not cooperating. Mint and parsley forgive a shadier spot. Microgreens don't care about the window at all; they just need a few days and a tray.
The reason most people fail at indoor herbs is simple: they treat them like grocery-store herbs. Those plastic-potted basils are root-bound, overwatered, and in seed-starting mix with no drainage. Start from seed or get a plant at a garden center — real potting mix, real drainage hole, real light. Then they just grow.
What we've built here is every herb from Johnny's Seeds catalog — the actual seeds you'd order — with real growing info: how much light, how often to water, what goes wrong and why. Most apps give you eight herbs. We give you the whole catalog, because that's what serious home gardeners actually use.
The windowsill is where food independence starts. Everything else — the beds, the canning, the seed room — is seasonal. The windowsill is year-round. Start there.
— Dorothy