If you have noticed more and more young people getting into gardening recently, you’re not the only one. In fact, savvy millennials who want to know where the food on their plate is coming from have set a new ‘grow your own’ trend.

In Ireland, for example, a study that looked into the trend of buying herbs, fruit and vegetables for planting found that the market boomed to €19 million in 2019. Meanwhile, the horticultural market in Ireland is worth €795m according to the 2018 figures, compared to €729m in 2016 and €516m in 2011.

The same tendency is observed in other countries around the globe. The 2021 National Gardening Association study showed that the Covid pandemic created 18.3 million new gardeners in the US, most of whom are millennials. Results found that gardening activities raised significantly at every garden experience level.

Experts believe that the millennial love for gardening is tied to movements of self-care and wellness. Since many young people don’t have access to an outdoor space as the majority of working millennials live in urban spaces, bringing plants, fruits and veggies inside seems like an appealing solution.

But if you've ever tried indoor gardening yourself, you know it’s not as easy as it looks. The harvest comes down to the tiniest details–from sun to humidity and just the right amount of shade. So it’s best to start from growing something simple, like herbs.

The experts at MiracleGro remind gardening aficionados to harvest often to encourage bushy growth. For herbs like mint, basil, cilantro, and dill, snip a few inches from the top of each stem, cutting right above a set of leaves. You can also harvest full stems from the outside of the plant by cutting a half-inch above the plant’s base.

Meanwhile, for herbs like oregano, parsley, sage, and thyme, choose long stems with few leaves. Snip chives at the base of the plant, about an inch above the soil. With sage and mint, you can also skip the cutting and simply pinch off individual leaves.