Start with the windowsill you already have

You do not need a greenhouse, a raised bed or even a garden to have fresh herbs through spring. A kitchen windowsill will do, provided you choose the right spot. Light is the single most important factor: a south- or west-facing sill gives the strongest, longest daylight and will keep basil happy, while parsley, mint and chives will manage perfectly well on an east-facing ledge or a bright north-facing kitchen that never gets direct sun.

Two practical details make the difference between herbs that thrive and herbs that sulk. First, keep pots away from cold glass at night in early spring — basil in particular dislikes anything below about 10°C and will go yellow and sulk if it sits against a chilly window. Second, give every pot a quarter turn once a week so stems grow straight rather than leaning into the light.

The four herbs worth your windowsill

Basil is the thirstiest for sun and warmth. Buy a supermarket pot only as a stopgap — those seedlings are crammed together and rarely last. Either sow seed in late March onwards into a 15cm pot, or split a crowded shop-bought pot into three or four separate pots and let them bulk up.

Flat-leaf parsley has far better flavour than curly for cooking, and it is slow but steady. Soak the seed overnight before sowing, keep the compost just moist, and expect three to four weeks before anything appears. It tolerates partial shade, which makes it the most forgiving of the four.

Mint is almost too easy. Buy a small pot and repot it on its own — never let it share with anything else, because it spreads by runners and will smother its neighbours. Spearmint is the one for cooking; keep it in a pot with a saucer beneath.

Chives are the hardiest and the quickest to earn their keep. A pot from the garden centre can be divided into two or three smaller pots, or sow seed in March and you will be snipping by May.

Compost, pots and drainage

Use a peat-free multi-purpose compost and mix in roughly one part horticultural grit or perlite to four parts compost. Herbs hate sitting in soggy, airless roots, and the grit keeps the structure open.

• Choose pots at least 15cm across with proper drainage holes — no decorative pots without holes, however pretty.
• Always use a saucer, then empty it twenty minutes after watering rather than letting the pot stand in water.
• Terracotta dries out faster than plastic; useful for mint and parsley, less so for basil.
• Label pots if you are sowing seed — parsley and coriander seedlings look very similar at first.

When potting on, firm the compost gently with your fingers and water in well once, then leave it alone until the surface feels dry.

Watering, feeding and pinching out

Little and often beats a weekly soak. Check daily by pushing a finger a centimetre into the compost: if it feels dry at that depth, water. Water at the base of the plant rather than over the leaves — wet foliage encourages mildew, and basil in particular resents having its leaves splashed.

From mid-spring, feed with a weak liquid seaweed or general-purpose feed every fortnight. More than that and you will get soft, floppy growth with less flavour.

Pinching out is the skill that separates a leggy plant from a productive one. On basil, pinch the growing tip just above a pair of leaves — the plant will branch into two. Do this every couple of weeks and remove flower buds as soon as you see them, because once basil flowers the leaves turn bitter and the plant gives up.

How to harvest so the plant keeps going

Never take more than a third of a plant at one time, and always cut above a leaf joint so new growth has somewhere to come from.

• Basil: pick leaves from the top down, always in pairs, and take the tip with them.
• Parsley: cut the outer stems right at the base, leaving the inner crown to regrow.
• Mint: snip whole stems rather than single leaves, and keep it cut to stop it flowering.
• Chives: snip about 2cm above the compost with scissors and they will regrow within a fortnight.

Watch for tiny flies hovering around the compost — that is fungus gnats, a sign of overwatering. Greenfly on basil can be rinsed off under a gently running tap.

Bringing the windowsill into spring cooking

The point of all this is the cooking. Tear basil, never chop it, over sliced tomatoes with a little salt and olive oil, or stir it through strawberries for a pudding that tastes far more grown-up than it sounds. Chives stirred into crème fraîche make the best possible dressing for new potatoes, and a spoonful folded into scrambled eggs off the heat is a small act of self-care on a grey morning.

Parsley belongs in a rough salsa verde with capers, anchovy and olive oil — spoon it over roast lamb, fish or a plate of spring vegetables. Mint, crushed with butter and a little salt, transforms boiled Jersey Royals, and a few leaves in a jug of boiling water is the simplest thing you will make all week.

Snip, taste, adjust. A windowsill of four herbs gives you the freedom to season by feel rather than by recipe, and that is a kitchen skill worth more than any gadget.