Everyone loves fresh vegetables, and nothing beats vegetables that are fresh from the garden! However, not everyone has the space or the seasonal warmth to grow an outdoor vegetable garden. So why not start a garden inside! While you won't be able to grow vegetables that take up a lot of room - like corn, pumpkins, and melons, you can grow delicious herbs, tomatoes, peppers and other great produce.

So, how do you begin your indoor garden? First of all, you need to analyze the light in your home. Is there a place with a sunny window that you can put a table with your garden on it? Does this window get good light throughout the day? Unfortunately, many homes lack sufficient light to really grow a good vegetable garden. Although house plants thrive, vegetables have a higher light requirement and benefit from strong, direct light.

But never fear there are options! Since indoor gardening is becoming so popular, many manufacturers are making special grow lights for the indoor gardener. You can find these lights in the gardening or lighting section of your local home improvement store. It is possible to find entire indoor greenhouse set ups as well. As you can see, the indoor gardener has quite a few options available!

Now when it comes to choosing the plants you want to grow, you need to consider how big the plant will become when it is full grown. Perhaps visit a nursery or a test garden to see the mature plant. Tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries are all good choices for indoor produce. Tomato plants get very tall, so you will want to add a stake or trellis so it won't tip over. However, you can trim your plant back and it will continue to grow. In fact, trimming the tomato plant will encourage it to grow wider and bushier, not as leggy and tall. If you plant strawberries, put them in a shallow, wide bowl type planter. They like to spread out and send shoots of new plants. Soon you will have a bowl full of beautiful greenery with tiny white flowers and glistening red fruit!

Herbs are always a wonderful choice for an indoor garden. It is so nice to be able to use fresh cilantro or parsley in your recipes! Unlike vegetables, most herbs can handle less light so a sunny window is perfect. Be warned that they do like well drained soil and take care not to over water your herbs to prevent fungal growth. Some great indoor herbs are, parsley, rosemary, mint and thyme. Some herbs will even help to prevent pests in your other plants. Consider planting a few cloves of garlic among your tomato plants to keep red spider mites away.

As you can see, indoor gardening can be a very rewarding project. Not only will you produce fresh vegetables and herbs for your dinner table, you will enjoy the process and bring a bit of the great outdoors inside!