Herb Report

Here's an update on my herb/tomato "garden".

The tomato plant is doing really well.  I can't believe it used to look like a little sprout.  When I first re-potted it, I didn't think it was going to make it, but look at it now!



I need to buy one of those wire mess cages to wrap around it.  I think it's getting big enough for one.

Here's a picture of the rest of them:




Unfortunately, not all of them are doing as well as the tomato.  The mint, basil, and dill are thriving.  The parsley and oregano haven't really changed, but the chive and cilantro are hurting.  The chive just keeps shedding more and more.  I really need to re-pot it again.  I don't know what's wrong with the cilantro though.  It was doing great and then the stems bent during a bad storm.  I thought maybe the bent stems were causing a reduction in water, but the damn thing keeps producing more flowers, but no leaves.  I did prune it right after the storm and cut about a third of it off like I read on the internet to do, but still no leaves.  I don't want to give up on it because it's the one herb that I use the most of since I started eating white chicken chili again.  I won't buy another one for the summer, but I'll take more care next year in pruning it so it doesn't get too tall and risk structural damage to the stem.

Update: Herb Garden

I just got back from Cleveland last night and left my baby herbs in the care of the hubster. They lived through 36 hours under his care. I wanted to post some pictures of their progress. After I had potted them, they looked puny and dejected, not likely to live past the first week. Well, surprisingly, they are doing quite well in my opinion.

Parsley

Basil

Cilantro

Mint

And the newest addition, dill, just planted this afternoon.

I'm getting oregano and chives from a coworker, so there will be 7 in total. I think the basil and mint look very hearty compared to the picture from last week. Hopefully the others catch up soon and I'll have enough to cook with this summer. Now to find some recipes that use these herbs!

Green Thumb?

One of my goals for this weekend was to start an herb "garden".  My co-worker has been trying to get me into gardening for quite some time.  I decided I needed another hobby and thought this was the perfect time to start.

First things first, I headed over to Giant Eagle and bought a $50 gift card to Home Depot to earn $0.20 Fuel Perks.  With the cost of gas, I could use all the help I could get.




After wandering around Home Depot's Garden Center for about 45 minutes and a few phone calls to my friend (I had forgotten my list of things to buy and what herbs I wanted), this is what I ended up with in my cart.  Woefully, there are no chives in my cart.


What is in my cart is as follows:

• Potting soil
• 4 6 in terra cotta pots
• Mint
• Cilantro
• Basil
• Parsley
• Gardening gloves
• Shovel
• Watering can

David will be providing me with oregano and a tomato plant.  Not pictured is a 12 in terra cotta pot for transferring the tomato that he started for me.

After checking out and heading home, I decide to run some other errands before potting my herbs.  These errands include returning things to Nordstrom, stopping at Target for some necessities, and going to the pool.

After cussing to myself over and over again for wearing white shorts and sitting on my porch for an hour, I finally finish.  These are my results:

Four limp looking potted plants. =(  I followed the directions, but as usual got ahead of myself and skipped some on accident.  We'll see how they hold up through the night.  I'm thinking I should have bought the little saucers that go with these pots.  This looks messy and dirty and I don't want my porch to stain.