I am not what you would call an outdoors type of person. It’s not that I’m against the outdoors, but there’s something about the spiders, mosquitoes and the unidentifiable bugs that, well…bug me. My little bug problem tends to put a damper on my gardening experiences.
While I enjoy a home-grown fruit or vegetables just as much as the next person, losing argument with the squirrels and deer caused me to abandon my back to Eden notion of growing my own food.
Not one to totally give up, I’ve decided to grow my garden indoors. I’m starting small with basil. Basil is my most favorite herb. I try to put it in just about everything I cook. However, every time I go to the grocery store to buy dried basil, I gasp because each time I go the price gets higher and higher.
Determined to blulow my life, I went to my local home gardening store and spent about a buck and a half on basil seeds. My daughter planted them I a clay pot with organic soil. While my thumb is not the greenest of thumbs, the basil has sprouted above the soil (an indication that I’m doing something right).
Over time, I hope to dry and preserve some of the leaves while using fresh basil as I see fit. If all goes well, I’ll try something a little more challenging like parsley, then maybe tomatoes, then carrots, then potatoes, then watermelon, then….
I guess I got a little carried away. I should wait for my basil to grow first before I take on more than I’m able to handle. Let’s face it, I just recently figured out how to keep my houseplants alive.
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yeah for alive plants!
Hi Laurie,
I pleased to be able to report that my plants are still alive.
That’s a major accomplishment for me.
Once the plant is healthy and strong and you can start cooking with the basil be careful about where you take cuttings.
A basil-growing-wizard friend recommends cutting just above the place where two leaves grow from the main stalk. That way new branches will sprout from the bases of the leaves that remain on the plant and your basil will grow wider instead of higher.
How are your little plants doing?
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
I’m glad you mentioned the thinning out process. I haven’t read up on how to grow them. We just threw seeds in the soil and watered them.
I’ll share this with my daughter. Maybe between the two of us we can manage to keep the basil alive. 🙂
I’ve been able to grow basil indoors, but growing it from seed has always been hard because I don’t like thinning them out even though it must be done.
We have some here with cotyledons and wee first leaves. It looks like yours are on their way!