Blogmas Day 12 Indoor Herb Gardens

 Welcome to Blogmas Day 12!  We have all seen the rise in popularity of gardening this year.  Sadly, I don't have a garden or outdoor space to partake in this hobby but I didn't let that stop me.  I have tried umpteen times to grow herbs indoors.  I have tried growing them from seeds and cuttings and buying them fully grown but my attempts always fizzled.  However, when I saw potted herbs for sale at my local grocery store this summer, I decided to try again.

Several months on and I am happy to report that my basil plant is still going strong.  It is saving me a fortune and I always have fresh basil leaves at hand.  Having plants to look after helps me to feel less disconnected to nature as I shelter in place.  I will say that the trick for me was to have it by a window getting as much fresh air as possible during the summer months.  As well, when choosing one, check the leaves closely for signs of insect infestation.  Take it from me, I have purchased potted herbs in the past and brought them home only to discover that they were completely riddled with bugs.  There isn't any point in spraying them with insecticide because then you are left with a herb plant that you can't eat.  You also want to choose one that looks healthy and has fulsome foliage.  I did get a potted thyme at the same time as the basil but it died within 48 hours. I think that set a record for how quickly I had a plant die on me. I should have known better as it was looking a little on the crispy side.   It was the only one on offer at the time so I didn't have much choice.  Basil is a heavy drinker and requires frequent watering.  However, if your basil plant looks limp and droopy, a good soaking will perk it up very quickly.  The delicious fragrance of its leaves certainly beats any artificial air freshener hands down.

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Trying To Grow An Indoor Herb Garden

I guess the title says it all as in I'm trying, desperately trying, to grow an indoor herb garden.  I've read many suggestions about the benefits of growing your own herbs as you can harvest them when needed and use them right away.  I have found that there is quite a bit of waste involved with buying herbs as we only ever use a bit of it and then the rest goes mouldy before it gets used up.  The problem is that I don't have a backyard or a balcony.  But herbs are just weeds and we all know weeds have evolved to grow anywhere. So I thought, why not trying growing them indoors?  When I saw this glass miniature greenhouse at Ikea, I was entranced.

via Ikea.com

I had these romantic visions of casually sauntering over to my lovely miniature greenhouse that was perched in my kitchen bay window and snipping off a few leaves of herbaly goodness which then gets tossed nonchalantly into my Michelin star recipe.  Like so...

via Ikea.com

Maybe I would have so many herbs that I could make my own cosmetics!  Yessss!!!  BUT my kitchen has no deep bay window, no natural light and very little counter space.  In fact, I was stumped as to where to put this green house, miniature though it was.  Insert sad face.  Still I was game to try and so, rustling up a couple of tiny coconut husk cups for starting seedlings, I decided to try growing dill and cilantro.  After many days spent on bended knee waiting and then pleading (and ignoring Monsieur's postulations about a watched pot or in this case watched dirt...), this is what I had.

That's right...nothing.  Insert another sad face.  Why???  Why??  Were the seeds old?  But seeds, by definition, are young.  How can they be old before they have even started growing??  You will see that, in an ecstasy of optimism, I even labelled my little seedling pots.  Hmmm...I am beginning to think that this business of simple living is not so simple after all.

At this point, I remembered reading somewhere that a good way of jumpstarting a garden is to just buy seedlings or save the roots of store bought herbs (if they come with roots attached).  I saved the roots of a green onion and lo and behold it grew one stalk and then another!  Obviously, it is the one in the blue pot.

I was so excited and admittedly took an inordinate amount of childish pleasure out of watching it rocket upwards especially after the dill and cilantro failure.  And then, one morning, I checked on it and the first stalk, now a long tall stalk, had inexplicably flopped over. Was I supposed to stake it?  I have heard of staking tomato plants but spring onions?  I guess I should harvest it as it looks a wee bit pathetic flopped over like that.  You will see that I have a basil plant to the left.  It was bought as a seedling and is still in a plastic pot because I am too afraid of transferring it to a proper plant pot for fear of killing it.  I think that next year, when there are more seedlings available in the nursery, I will buy a few and do my best to keep up an indoor herb garden.  I haven't given up the dream completely.  Do you do indoor container gardening?  Any suggestions on growing herbs indoors, please send them my way!

I am linking up with Natasha in Oz.