The only way to have fresh, good-quality herbs for cooking is to grow them yourself. Many of the ordinary cooking herbs do not require any special treatment.
Parsley, for example will grow in ordinary good garden soil, or in a pot that is kept watered. Thyme and Rosemary do not need good soil at all; less nutrients keep the flavor at a peak. They, however, do not like to be wet, and will not need as much water as Parsley or Basil. I keep Rosemary in a pot on the windowsill in the winter, as it cannot stand a deep freeze. Then in the summer, I move it outside and it goes crazy until cold weather, when I bring it in again.

Thyme is perennial, as is sage. Once you get them established, the clumps will continue to get bushier every year. Basil needs to be planted in the spring. I frequently start my plants in little pots in the house in February -- it's a touch of spring when I am sick of winter. Ordinary sweet basil gets to be a large and attractive plant, with glossy bright green leaves and little white flowers by late summer.
Parsley needs to be started in the house. Otherwise, it takes too long to get it to usable size. I even dig a couple of plants at the end of the summer to bring in over the winter. It doesn't thrive in the low-light conditions of the house, but when you set it out in the spring, it gets a fast start. Parsley is a biennial. If you leave it out to freeze, the next year it will come back, but only to flower and set seeds.

There are many good sources of information and plants out there. I have always liked Johnny's Selected Seeds and Park Seed company as main-line sources of herb seeds. Burpee is good, too. And these three are all on the Web with online catalogs. Parsley and Basil are always available on the 10-cent racks in the spring, too.
I encountered a delightful on-line company, too. It is No Thyme Productions and offers some varieties of herb plants which you will not find in the main-line companies.

It is worth trying your hand at growing some little pots of herb plants. The taste rewards in the kitchen are well worth the effort you put into the endeavor. And just passing by and brushing some fragrant herb in the dead of winter brings a little spring into your soul.