First, a definition. Herbs are leafy plant tops. Spices are seeds, roots, or fruits (think peppers) that are dried and sometimes ground or toasted. Herbs you can buy in a bottle and keep in a drawer, but for the most part, you want to buy your herbs fresh. They just taste different, more redolent of the outside. Besides, dried herbs lose their flavor and potency long before you can use what you buy dried.

While most supermarkets carry herbs you’ll commonly use in either large bunches or in small plastic encased quantities, it’s pretty easy to grow the ones you’ll use most often, either in pots outside, in the ground, or even on your windowsill. If you choose the latter, be warned that they won’t last very long – maybe a couple three months per plant – before you have to restock.

Here’s a list of the things you’ll want to have on hand in your spice drawer:

• salt — table salt and kosher salt. The latter comes in a big box that will take you a long time to get through. Come to my house and I’ll give you a little Tupperware full of it instead.
• pepper — get a pepper grinder and pepper corns. The stuff you buy already ground is probably pretty old
• cumin — this has a smoky flavor that adds warmth and richness to stews, soups and chilies
• cayenne — spicy, but you knew that. If you have cayenne and cumin, though, you don’t need to buy chili powder, which is a combination of the two.
• paprika — this comes in varying degrees of hotness, usually labeled either sweet or hot. Make yourself happy on this one.
• ground coriander — this is the seed of the cilantro plant, but has a different flavor. You won’t use it very often, but it’s good to have on hand.
• cinnamon — you can buy stick and grate it on your microplane zester, or just buy it ground.
• ground ginger — you’ll also want to buy a good fresh knob of ginger and keep it in your freezer. Ground ginger has been toasted and has a different flavor. You really do want to have both. When you need fresh ginger, just take it out of the freezer, grate what you need on your zester (you did buy one, didn’t you?) and put it back in the freezer. After about six months, it will dry out and you’ll need to replace it. Sometimes, when I clean out my freezer I find little bits of desiccated ginger root lying about. I think of it as a treasure hunt.
• ground cloves — you can buy them whole and grind them in a spice grinder or a pepper mill you keep just for aromatic spices (think of the things that go in pumpkin pie or other baked goods), but I just buy little bits ground in the bulk aisle. A note of warning if you do that, though: label the bag. I have many little bags in my spice drawer that contain who knows what.
• whole nutmeg — don’t get the ground stuff. The whole ones keep forever and it tastes so much better freshly grated.
• vanilla — you can buy whole beans, which are expensive and cumbersome to use, paste, or just a good quality bottle of vanilla.

One herb you can buy dried and keep in your spice drawer: bay leaves. You can also get these fresh in the aforementioned plastic containers and keep them in the fridge indefinitely.

The other herbs which you should grow or buy fresh when you need them are:

• Parsley — flat leaf or Italian parsley has more flavor than the curly stuff that comes on the side of your plate at restaurants. Grow these. They’ll even survive the winter if you protect it from the worst freezes.
• Thyme — I grow plain and lemon thyme. It’s easy and hardy and survives the winter no problem.
• Sage — a lovely herb that is reminiscent of the woods. It’s loads better fresh than dried.
• Rosemary — this grows rather large and won’t do well inside. Again, the dried and fresh bear little resemblance to each other. It’s great with poultry and potatoes.
• Chives — when you want a little onion flavor, these are the thing. Plus: pretty purple flowers you can use to sprinkle over your creations for a fine-restaurant look. Better grown outside than in. They last forever. You can, in a pinch, pull them up by the root and chop the white part in place of scallions.
• Mint — never plant this in the ground. It will take over the world. Choose a variety. I don’t use mine often, but I’m really glad it’s there when I need it.
• Oregano — another one you just don’t want to plant in the ground unless you want an oregano-only garden.
• Marjoram — not often used in the cooking I do, but it’s nice — a stronger flavor than oregano, but like it in many ways.
• Basil — this only grows in the summer. If you want it in the winter, go to the store and buy it. It only lasts a day or two in your fridge, so get it the day you need it.

I suggest getting a really large pot and planting all of these together in one place. Bigger pots are more likely to survive the winter. All of these plants require sunshine. If you don’t grow them, but buy them, you can buy them in large quantities, grind them up in your food processor and freeze them in a little water in an ice cube tray. You can also just freeze them, wrapped in parchment or waxed paper in a freezer bag.