Thursday, June 7, 2012

Herbs herbs herbs!

If there is one thing a city dweller with limited space should grow, it would be herbs.  Having fresh herbs just adds great flavor to any dish and it makes simple dishes feel fancy.  Basil may be my favorite herb to have since I use it the most. Plus little baby basil is really cute.
Sweet basil reaching for the sun
Close up of sweet basil
Sweet basil's smaller cousin, thai basil
Thai basil close up
This year, I used seeds sent by Carol (thank you) and started cilantro and I LOVE it. I'm not sure why I never paid too much attention to this herb. Maybe because when I buy it at the store, you have to get a bunch and I can never use it up. It always ends up rotting in my fridge and I hate picking out the good parts from the slimy bits. Having it grow fresh in the garden lets me pick just the right amount when I need it. Fantastic!
Bushy cilantro
Cilantro's delicate leaves
I also have an abundance of rosemary. My oldest rosemary plant is looking so good right now with yellow leaves. Just overall it looks sad. I have to say I usually don't tend to the rosemary because I feel like it is pretty tolerant to disease. The yellowing leaves could mean that I am not giving it enough water or it needs some nutrients. It is probably a combination of both since I truly neglect this poor plant. I added a couple of scoops of compost to the base of the plant and watered it. Let's see if this will give it some color.
My not so happy rosemary
Yellowing leaves

11 comments:

  1. Well, I also grow ( actually don't care them too much ) some herbs but I forget watering them so often since easiness of growing small herbs. Eventually some of my mints are dead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I thought that mint was invincible. But my mint is not doing so well either.

      Delete
  2. Your basil are so pretty! The slugs ate mine down to nubs. :(

    Rosemary is pretty well adapted to handle drought. If it's still struggling after watering you could also try pulling it up and trimming the roots and tops down, then replanting with some fresh soil. It looks like it's been in that pot a few years and it may have outgrown the space, or the soil may have compacted and lost nutrients over time. They don't usually need any fertilization, but if the soil's compacted and the roots are getting bound up it's harder for the plant to access the nutrients in the soil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your suggestion. I will try looking at the roots - the rosemary have been in this pot for some time.

      Delete
  3. Your herb seedlings look good! You will have many to enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. so true what you said about cilantro rotting in the fridge!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your basil looks awesome and it IS super cute :)

    ReplyDelete