I’m feeling like the walking wounded this week.

While trying to persuade a mature honeysuckle into a new pot, I managed to impale my foot on an old and surprisingly sharp stalk from last year’s tansy. Ouch!  - or words to that effect.

Still, it’s a timely reminder to wear the right gear for gardening. This definitely does not include M&S leather slip-on bow pumps – even if, like me, you’re only planning a quick five minutes of working outside. You never know when a bit of old perennial will jump out and get you.

So I thought we’d leave the wilds of the outdoor life for this week’s blog and concentrate on a little (safer) indoor growing before we get all excited about sowing our wild rocket in a couple of weeks.

I always claim it is possible to grow your own even if you have absolutely no access to a patch of ground, and it is. But it can be a bit soul destroying if you try and grow things that just won’t ‘do’ indoors and a few seasons of leggy greenery and rotting fruits can be all it takes to put you off for life.

There’s a simple rule that can help you decide what to risk inside the house:

If you grow it for the root or the fruit, you need full sun…

…if you grow it for the leaves or stems or sprouts, partial shade is all you need.

If you’re lucky enough to have a sun room or conservatory, you can certainly give roots and fruits a go. But if you’re not, then keep to the green and leafy stuff. Even with the cleanest windows and the best summer since records began, you’re never going to get the strongest, fullest sunshine inside.

There’s a lot to be said for growing herbs indoors. Herbs pack a real punch when it comes to adding flavour and nutrients to your cooking but start to lose nutrients very soon after picking. By harvesting fresh as you need them, they are full of vitality and goodness – and a fair bit cheaper than the pre-packaged, days-old specimens you get in supermarkets.

In fact – as anyone who has had their parsley bed swamped by couch grass and creeping buttercup will tell you – there can be distinct advantages to indoor herb cultivation. You can readily spot any problems and pests and do something about it, there’s no weeding to do and you can manage the growing environment. A lot of the woodier herbs like lavender and rosemary like hot sun and arid conditions, so that period between May and September that we laughingly call a Scottish summer can be a bit of a challenge if they are grown outside.

Although terracotta pots are definitely the best, if you’re strapped for cash you can use just about any container for your indoor herb garden as long as it has drainage holes and is deep enough to let them get their roots down. I’m not a great one for re-using plastic yoghurt pots and the like (much better not to buy stuff in plastic containers in the first place), but I do like the look of old five litre olive oil tins and other paraphernalia with a bit of green stuff growing out of the top. Check out Alys Fowler’s The Thrifty Gardener for lots of ideas on where to find containers. Just don’t forget to drill those drainage holes in the bottom!

Choose a free draining compost – I would always go for organic and never a peat-based compost – there’s no point in shifting your herb miles to herb inches if you’re destroying a carbon sink to do it. Herbs hate soggy roots – it’s a sure fire way to finish them off. So water carefully too – the woodier plants like oregano and rosemary tend to prefer to dry out between waterings, the leafier ones like basil need a bit more water and a slightly moister soil.

What herbs to grow? There are lots to choose from, but as with all things Grow Your Own I would recommend you grow the things you most love. All herbs are expensive to buy in the shops, so you don’t really need to do the cost/benefit analysis you need to do with staples like potatoes. But even so, there’s little point growing costmary or woad if you have no intention of making spiced ales or trying to dye-your-own.

If you love Italian, go for oregano, basil, rosemary – all of them will need a sunny windowsill and around six or more hours of sunlight a day, but there is nothing like picking it just as you need it – pick the new growth from the top as this will encourage the plant to grow bushy rather than long and lanky, an altogether much better look.

If you like French cuisine, try fines herbes – parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil. I love adding a little fresh tarragon to potato salad – makes me feel like summer whatever the weather is doing outside.

Or forget about a theme and just plant anything you fancy!

So, before the real rush of the growing season kicks in, get your indoor growing sorted. When you’re serving your first dish with your own home grown herbs, you’ll be glad you did.