10 Delicious Indoor Garden Vegetables, Herbs and Fruits

You don’t need much space to grow fresh, nutritious indoor garden vegetables, herbs and fruits. Look for varieties that won't outgrow your windowsill or tabletop and make sure they'll get as much light as they need.

If you don't have enough light, use a grow light with a timer. Your seed packets or plant labels will tell you how to space your indoor garden vegetables and other plants. Use containers with drainage holes and a well-draining potting mix, and avoid overwatering. When you fertilize your indoor vegetable garden — or your indoor herbs and fruits — follow the directions on the product label.

If you’re new to indoor vegetable gardening, start with easy-to-grow leaf lettuces instead of head lettuces. Varieties like 'Baby Oakleaf' or 'Tom Thumb' are good choices. Lettuce needs 6 to 8 hours of sun per day, but no direct sunlight. Mix a slow-release vegetable fertilizer into the top 2 inches of potting mix, sow the lettuce seeds over it and gently press them down. Use a spray bottle to water them and keep the soil moist until sprouts appear in a week or two. Lettuce is a cool-weather crop but you can grow it year-round; ideally, give it a spot that stays between 50 and 65 degrees or choose a slow-bolting variety. (Bolting occurs when the temperatures rise and the plants flower and set seeds. Lettuce becomes bitter-tasting when it bolts). Harvest the leaves when they're about six inches long, removing the outer ones first and letting the inner ones keep growing. Lettuce is sold in cell packs if you'd rather start with young plants than seeds.

Small carrot varieties with short roots, like 'Little Finge' or 'Royal Chantenay', are good choices for indoor vegetable gardening. These root veggies dislike being transplanted, so grow them in pots at least 8 inches deep (deeper for longer or standard varieties). Scratch a slow-release fertilizer into some vegetable potting mix, using the amount directed on the label, and scatter the seeds over it. Carrot seeds need light to germinate, so cover them no more than 1/8 inch deep. Mist them with water and keep them in a cool, sunny spot that gets at least six hours of light each day. Depending on the variety, they'll germinate in about 14-21 days. After they're 3 inches tall, thin out the weak seedlings and start applying a liquid fertilizer every two weeks. Keep the soil moist, not wet. The carrots are ready to pull when they reach the mature size indicated on your seed packet. Keep the harvest going by starting more seeds every couple of weeks.

Lettuce isn't the only leafy green that's easy to grow in an indoor vegetable garden. Try arugula, kale, Swiss chard and spinach. Small spinach varieties like 'Baby Leaf Catalina' and 'Plymouth' are good for windowsills. Use shallow pots (spinach doesn't have deep roots) and give the leaves plenty of room to spread out. Sow the seeds 1/2-inch deep in moistened potting mix and cover them lightly with plastic wrap. Remove the plastic daily to let out excess moisture and leave it off after the sprouts appear. Don't the soil dry out. Carrots need 4 to 6 hours of light per day and grow best at 50 to 80 degrees. They'll bolt in full sun and at high temperatures. Thin the seedlings to every 3 inches, but don't compost them. Toss them into salads, sandwiches or other foods. Feed your plants with a balanced liquid fertilizer as directed on the label or use a time-released fertilizer.

Direct sow rasish seeds in containers filled with a loose, easily draining potting mix. The containers should be at least 6 inches deep so the roots can develop. Work a balanced, all-purpose fertilizer into the mix, moisten it and plant the seeds 1/2-inch deep. Give them six hours of sun a day; you probably won't need grow lights, and you don't need to fertilize them again. Radishes sprout fast. When the seedlings have two sets of leaves, thin them to every 3 inches. Radishes are cool-weather crops, so you may need to move them to a cooler spot in your home on hot spring and summer afternoons. Most radishes are ready to harvest in 30 to 45 days. Sow more seeds every couple of weeks for an ongoing supply.

In their book Edible Houseplants: Grow Your Own Citrus, Coffee, Vanilla, and 43 Other Tasty Tropical Plants (Storey Publishing), authors Laurelynn G. Martin and Byron E. Martin make a case for growing fruits like guavas indoors. Lemon guava (Psidium littorale subsp. littorale), says Laurelynn, is "wonderfully productive as a small plant on a windowsill and (the fruits) are deliciously sweet" with soft, fleshy centers. They're usually eaten raw but can be cooked. Try them in smoothies, marinades or fruit salads; they contain lots of vitamin A and folate. Closely related to strawberry guavas, lemon guavas like full sun but tolerate partial sun and do best if they're moved outside for the summer. Be sure to bring them back in if the temperatures drop; they're hardy only in USDA Gardening Zone 9. Apply a balanced fertilizer each month while they're actively growing. Prune these relatively slow-growing tropicals, which can be used as shrubs or small trees at any time of year; they can grow 3 to 5 feet tall. Because they flower on old, woody stems as well as young branches, moderate pruning won't affect your harvest.

Tomatoes aren't usually grown indoors because they need a lot of sun, water and space. If you're game to try them, try a patio or bush type in a large container or a plum, grape or cherry variety in a windowsill garden. If you have a short growing season, you may want to buy young plants instead of seeds for a faster harvest. Tomatoes need warmth (70 to 80 degrees), at least 8 hours of daily sun (and/or light from a grow light) and regular water and vegetable fertilizer. Opt for a slow-release granular fertilizer or one that's water-soluble and apply it as the label indicates. Without wind and insects to pollinate the blooms, you’ll need to transfer pollen between them with a small paintbrush or run a small, oscillating fan to move it around. Pick your tomatoes when they grow to the mature size for that variety.

It's easier to grow tomatoes that have been bred for indoor vegetable gardening. Kitchen Minis are naturally compact plants for sunny windowsills (or patio tables). They’re sold in small pots and don’t need transplanting; some will already have flowers or fruits when you buy them. With proper care, they'll bear cherry-sized tomatoes for several weeks. When they're finished, compost them and buy another plant. Currently, there are three tomato Kitchen Minis available: Tomato 'Siam', 'Red Velvet' and 'Cocoa'. Availability may vary by season; click here to find them.

Peppers are tasty additions to indoor vegetable gardens, but bell peppers and standard varieties can be challenging to grow. Your best bets are ornamental peppers or small, hot or sweet varieties that mature at 6 to 12 inches high. Give them at least six hours of sun each day in a southern exposure or eught hours in an eastern or western exposure or use a grow light. Plant the seeds 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep in a tray of moistened seed starting mix and keep them moist until they sprout. Peppers planted in an indoor vegetable garden won't get as big as they would outdoors, so try a smaller type like a pequin chili pepper, hot habanero or chiltepin. Apply a balanced fertilizer as shown on your product.

There's also a Kitchen Minis pepper collection for sunny windowsills and countertops. For sweet peppers, look for 'Fresh Bites' plants with orange, red or yellow fruits. Hot varieties include purple pepper 'Cosmo', lime-green 'Hot Burrito' and yellow 'Hot Lemon Zest'.

Indoor vegetable gardens need herbs to spice things up. Herbs like oregano, chervil, chives, parsley and sage can grow indoors almost year-round. Oregano seeds are tiny, so sprinkle them over your potting mix but don’t cover them with the mix. Mist them, cover your pots or trays with plastic wrap to increase the humidity and remove it daily so excess water won't accumulate. Leave the plastic off after seeds sprout, usually in seven to 10 days. Thin the seedlings as directed on your packet. If you prefer, look for young oregano plants sold at nurseries and garden centers and grow one plant per pot. Oregano likes a warm, sunny windowsill and needs a well-draining potting mix. It also likes a little humidity, so keep your plants near your kitchen sink or place the pots on a tray filled with some pebbles and a little water. Use an all-purpose fertilizer as shown on the product label. To encourage bushy growth, pinch the growing tips when your plants are 4 inches tall. Later, snip stems to use and run your fingers down them to strip off the leaves for pesto, spaghetti sauce and soups, or to flavor marinades for meats and veggies.

Basil is another wonderful herb to grow with your indoor garden vegetables. Buy young plants or sow basil seeds in moistened potting mix, covering them lightly. Water them with mist from a spray bottle and cover them with plastic wrap. Keep them in a warm, sunny window or under grow lights and remove the plastic when sprouts appear. If you use a seed starting mix, transplant the basil into pots filled with good-quality potting mix once they have two sets of true leaves. Keep it moist, not wet, and thin the seedlings to prevent crowding. Apply a liquid fertilizer as directed on the label and pinch the plants when they're 6 inches tall to encourage bushiness. As with oregano, increase the humidity by growing basil near a sink, keeping the pots on trays filled with pebbles and a little water or by running a humidifier nearby. Don’t let the soil go dry. The leaves are ready for harvest when the plants are 6 to 8 inches tall. Make more basil plants by rooting 4-inch stem cuttings in water. Change the water every few days and pot up the basil when the roots are an inch long.