Thursday, May 21, 2009

Tending Herbs

Some people have green thumbs, I have a brown one. In other words, I have the thumbs of death. I have killed every plant which I have owned. My record is 3 weeks – that is the longest I have kept a plant alive. Either I water them too much or not enough. Either they get too much sun or not enough. However, one of the things I have always wanted to do is to have a herb garden. I love fresh herbs but they are so expensive. But, for obvious reasons, I have not tried this.

Now Lancaster calls itself a “garden city” with good reason. It is surrounded by farmland (Amish and otherwise) and has a lot of local greenhouses selling plants all year round. So, with the start of summer, I bought a small thyme plant and a small basil plant. It is my new experiment. If I can keep them alive for a month, I will get another plant – probably rosemary or cilantro.

Now, buying these plants did nothing to increase my self-confidence. We went to a local market which has very nice, personal staff. I asked one of them how much water these two plants needed. Here is her response: “Well, they do not like being very wet or very dry. Just touch the soil and let the soil tell you.” Thanks!!!! If the plants could talk, could tell me what they need, they would not be dead. So, I tried again: “So….water them every day, every other day???” Her response: “There is no real rule. It all depends…..” The only definitive thing she told me was that the plants need a lot of sunlight. Of course, that is the most difficult thing for me because they have to be on our back deck which gets very little sunlight – only about 3-4 hours per day.

So, I have had these two plants for about 2 weeks now. I re-planted them in bigger pots and with better soil. The basil plant was actually 2 plants, so I have 3 pots. One of the basil plants is looking a little droopy and I do not have high hopes for it. The other one looks OK though the thyme is the one which seems to be thriving. If they are still alive on June 5th, I am getting more. I have been using fresh basil and thyme for the past couple of days and I LOVE it.

Do you have herbs? And how much time and trouble do you spend on these plants?

3 comments:

Kathleen said...

I have never been able to keep basil alive.

We have a rosemary plant in our yard that thrives. Mint too is pretty indestructible, but it probably helps that they are actually rooted in the ground!

Anonymous said...

This summer, I'm just sticking with basil. I'm going to get a few basil plants, since I use a ton of it. I have been able to keep them alive...with water and sunlight. Keeping the bugs away is another story.

Jill

Betty said...

I was pretty successful growing a herb garden last year. Mint is pretty indestructible but it can take over your garden really easily. I haven't tended to my garden at all this year and the mint is sprouting all over the place, even in the grass. If you like making asian dishes, lemongrass was fairly easy to grow and you save so much money since it's expensive and gross at the store. My sage, chives and tarragon plants came back this year. Good luck with your plants!