Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Herb Garden Progress Report #4: Day 73

I have officially harvested basil. After reading about basil growing and harvesting, I discovered that it is healthy, for the plant, to clip the top of the plant off above the 2nd layer of leaf bunches once 3-5 bunches have formed. So, snip I did. 2 of the 3 basil plants were big enough to do this. Now, I'll wait and see how growth improves, if at all, after the snip. 
Here is a photo of everything post basil snipping. :) 


Because, right now,  I don't need quite as much basil as I harvested,  I decided to try and grow a new plant with one of the bunches I cut off. From what I've read, all you need to do is soak the stem in water while letting the leaves remain exposed and new roots will begin to grow that you can then plant into soil.  I feel like it should be more complicated than that, but my intention was never to grow another plant so.. If it works, great. If not, that is okay too. 



Oregano seems to be flourishing in our new, less sunlit, apartment. I have placed the little garden directly under the skylight in our kitchen. This way it gets a lot of light but doesn't dry out the way it did on our balcony. On sunny mornings I move it to the window sill where it gets much more sun. I have only had to water everything once since we've moved in (about 10 days). The soil just isn't as dry. I was worried the herbs would start to look limp without as much sun but, so far, the opposite has been the case. 
It is still little, but it has grown so much in the last week!! 

Parsley is growing well. I plan to harvest and begin drying some parsley this evening. 

I'm so happy that they have grown so much!!  

Monday, August 12, 2013

Herb Garden Progress Report #3: Day 55

I think oregano is going to pull through after all!!  Maybe I did something wrong, or maybe he is just slow, but 1 of the 3 seems to slowly but surely be making its way out!   Hurray! 

Parsley however has experienced a loss. 1 of the 3 parsley sprouts just died from one day to the next. Luckily, the other 2 are doing great, as is basil. 
Here are a couple of pictures: 


Parsley

Basil

Oregano