Meet Parsley

The Afro of Plants

Here's my lovely parsley plant.  Unfortunately, this lovely plant grew way faster than I could harvest it and has pretty much outgrown its pot.  It was also sucking up easily 1-2 cups of water a day, drying out the soil by midday.  I recently thinned out a few of the sprouts and it's been much happier.  I'll be happy to move parsley to the garden straight away, since he likes to fan out all over the place and takes a lot of sun.  

As for uses, maybe I need some more! I usually chop up parsley for Italian stir fries, mix it into sauces and soups, and, when it's picnic time, I'll often put parsley in mayo based sandwiches, like watercress mayo or egg salad sandwiches.  

One thing I have learned is that, once you pluck off the 3 terminal leaves from a shoot, that long stem is done producing.  The good news: each stem is attached at the base of the plant to other stems and new stems will sprout.  I was leaving the stems on the plant for a while, which just blocks sunlight from new sprouts coming in.  

Keep growing,

Christine

Beautiful Basil

 

This is my sweet basil plant.  I didn't grow this bad boy from seeds, though that's one of my next sprouting adventures.  I got this plant about 6 months ago from a nearby Giant Food grocery store. It comes from Shenandoah Growers, a regional grower that I've had a lot of success with lately (well, except for a mint plant- but more on that later). 

Basil is relatively low maintenance, though it does prefer regular watering.  I use plastic pots I get from Walmart (they water from the bottom) and Miracle Grow potting soil.

 

Mmmm. Soil. 

To use the basil, just pull of the leaves from the top whenever you need them.  Great for pretty much any Italian dish ever: lasagne, caprese, bruchetta, pesto.  You name it, add basil. It's a good idea to pull off the top leaves from time to time regardless as a way to prune your basil. 

And how much did this all cost me?

• Basil Plant: $3.99
• Plastic Pot: $2.00
• Potting mix: $6.00 for the whole bag, approx $0.01 for this plant

 Total: $5.00

The best part is that just a handful of basil leaves cost anywhere from $5-10 in the grocery store.  Win to the win, baby!

Introduction Post

Hello everyone,

My name is Christine and I'm a gardener! Well.. sort of.  I currently live in an apartment on the fourth floor with no yard to claim as my own.  I'm trying to buy a house with my fiance this year, but that's another blog entirely.  I always lived in an apartment in college and had the same problem.  My solution: potted plants.

I've been growing herbs, flowers, and vegetables in pots for years.  I'm here to share my experiences, tips, and failures.  I'll also share recipes I've come up with to use up all the tasty things I grow.

Keep photosynthesizing!

Christine