Herbs at Home

Last summer I made an honest attempt to grow my own herbs.  I wanted to experience the sense of accomplishment that comes from nibbling on the tender green sprigs that have been personally hand raised and cared for. 

So to start I planted my newly purchased baby seeds in their peat pucks and then lovingly placed them in their brand new greenhouse.  When the messy part was done I stationed them in the window and watched them, and then watched some more.  Finally the tiny green leaves started to emerge from the soil, instilling in me a feeling of great optimism.  They flourished in their greenhouse and shortly after the sprouts arrived I had to thin out the miniature herb bushes before the competition got too fierce.  They continued to grow getting tall and leafy until they eventually reached the top, struggling to escape.  So I did what they asked and removed them from their sanctuary and transplanted them into little pots.  And that's when the experiment took a turn for the worse.  The growth of the sprouts slowed significantly and the plants became strung out and lanky looking.  After only a few weeks out of the greenhouse there were several casualties and by the end of summer what did survive was too unsubstantial to possibly recover from having bits hacked off.  My home grown plants were pitiful at best.

So this year I've learned my lesson and abandoned the idea of seed planting.  I ordered all my herbs from a Solar Winds Botanicals and from them I got beautifully established, full and healthy chive, parsley, lemon grass, oregano, thyme, basil, mint, watercress, sage, and marjoram plants.  If I could find a place to buy an 8 foot basil tree I would certainly buy one, but I settled for a 2 4" pots. 

I planted the majority of the plants in two planters on the patio, but not wanting to give up on the idea of an indoor herb garden just yet, I did plant the lemon and Greek basil, orange thyme, rosemary and lavender in the window sill.  I'll give it one last try! 

Comments

[Ana]

Good luck with your herbs Liz. I also have a long pot that hangs on the deck rail where I put basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, and sage. I bought them in little pots and then transplanted them into the long narrow pot.

I have my whole backyard to fix still and even when I have the whole thing planted, I might want to get my herbs close to the kitchen door. So they might remain in the deck rail.

By the way, I like the way you arranged your blog with the Canadian Food Blogger sign right on top. I am fighting with mine, trying to put it in the header graphic but have not been successful yet. I no not have as much room as you guys have because Blogger seems to have only two columns. I have looked all over and have not seen one with three columns. Bummer!

[Liz]

Hi Ana!

I really struggled with the Canadian Food Blogger logo as well. I worked on the thing for 3 hours before I was able to get it working! I didn't even attempt to put it in my header. Good luck.

I'd really like to redesign my header graphic, but I don't know enough about what I'm doing to get what I want. One thing at a time I guess.

Liz