hi miraclemama,
Last year I had the pleasure of living out in the country with a ginormous south-facing window and had great success (relatively) growing herbs indoors. They never reached their full size (I kept their pots kind of small), but they seemed happy and healthy enough. I think the key to growing herbs indoors year round is getting them enough sun. Out in the country we didn't need curtains or blinds and there weren't any other buildings blocking the sun. I had parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, basil, and oregano.

On a side note, I now live in the city with no sunny windows and the above mentioned plants are now barely existing on my deck. The insects are destroying them as well as the hot afternoon sun and I can't seem to keep enough water in their pots. Despite what seems logical, they were much happier inside!

Another PNW Z8er here. I suspect it is possible to grow some herbs indoors year round here but you'll probably have to use supplemental lighting about 16 hrs. a day in the winter. With a combination of a south window and flourescent light you just might make it work. I tried chives that were only under flourescent light and they stayed alive but that's about all. I wish you lots of luck figuring out how to make it work, I love the idea. FWIT worth I've grown lots of other house plants under artificial light with varying degrees of success.

I agree, indoor potted herbs is all dependent on your windows for available sunlight. Extra growing lamps should work, I've never done that though.

rosemary jane, for drying out problems, if you haven't done this try getting large 3 gal? (about 12"diameter 12" tall) terra cotta pots or bigger. Even for small plants, I found that these were big enough to kinda retain moisture. I guess the smaller pots just can dry out faster. The terra cotta seems to be better at keeping water in too probably cause they heat up on all sides more than the terracotta ones. Look for a sale cause it can get pricy. The long narrow terra cotta planters also work well. Also use sphagnum peat moss (the pretty looking stuff) as a mulch--though any mulch would probably work--to help keep the water in. I did this in atlanta and had a lot of success with potted patio gardening.

Being (mostly) a city dweller and herb lover, I've grown them indoors under lights and have had mixed success. To grow under fluorescents, they have to be kept very close to the bulbs, and even then are limited to about 6 to 8 inches in height before the lower foliage becomes starved for light. You can use high-intensity grow lights, which work better but are rather science-fiction-y looking and produce quite a bit of heat. Either way, hardy perennial herbs like sage and thyme will only last a year or so because they need a cold winter dormancy. In my opinion, it's not really worth the trouble: better to grow what you can outdoors, and find a good farmer's market or friend in the country for the rest in season (and used dried or frozen at other times of the year).

Kris, thank you for all the suggestions. Larger pots and mulch--definately makes sense!

Nygardener, is that true, about sage and thyme needing a cold winter dormancy? What happens if they are indoors year after year? Mine are on their second year, are they going to putter out when I bring their pots inside this winter?

Yes, NYgardener is right - most anything that is hardy outdoors in a cold climate NEEDS that cold dormant period to do well. If you have to keep herbs indoors, it's better to keep propagating them so you're always working with young plants. I've never had any success keeping any herb hardier than rosemary alive indoors. (Well, creeping dwarf savory did make it through one winter, but I didn't try to keep it going for a second winter - it got planted.)