Planting Seeds

After spending the last nine years in international school-furnished apartments, one of the things I was most excited to do after moving to the US was to grow things I could actually eat.  I have become obsessed with my little 17th floor herb garden, but it is a small and lovely reminder that even in the middle of a huge city, we can still grow our own healthy, delicious foods.  My Aunt Carol has been a gardener forever, and recently showed me her greenhouse.  It is impressive (as is her garden), but mostly I appreciated her reassurance and willingness to support me in my newfound passion.


Attempt #1 at the herb garden occurred when my parents sweetly sent my boyfriend an herb garden for his birthday.  Thyme, Sage and Rosemary plants in a cute little box arrived the day after I left to go to Alaska.  They sat on an east-facing kitchen windowsill and were pretty much dead when I got home.

Attempt #2 began after I ordered some seeds from amazon.com and decided I'd just grow them myself. I bought clay pots from Michaels, painted them with blue and black chalkboard paint so I could label the herbs in each pot, and was ready to go.

Or, so I thought...

It turned out these gorgeous little seeds didn't really want to grow.  The rosemary was a total no show, the oregano was very picky, and the others seemed to not want to take the time out of their busy seed schedules to generate greenery.

But I kept at it, watered so they were moist but not wet, rotated them to get even sun, sang and talked them into germination.  Whatever it takes, right?!



Attempt #3 began with a few more pots, a few more seed packets and a new A-frame table (also from amazon.com) to keep all of the pots cozied up by the nice, south facing sunny patio door.  "Water when needed" was not the most helpful of directions, yet the only I could find.  So, I opted to just continue to ensure that the soil was moist but not wet and hoped for the best.

I learned a few weeks later that the seeds could potentially all germinate leading to a busy and overcrowded pot which I'd need to thin out and manicure a bit.  So, out the lovely, innocent little seedlings came in order to give their neighbors more soil space to thrive.  A little insect killing soap to keep the mites away, an oscillating fan to keep things fresh and it seems we have actual herbs growing!

Now...if only they produce enough for us to actually be able to eat some!