Monday, July 21, 2008

It's Alive!

Three weeks ago, I took a leap into starting my own garden and planted my first little seedlings. Granted, I'm starting off small, but with growth (literally) will come confidence. And with confidence will eventually come a backyard full of goodies for our little family. For now, with a little love, and a lot of patience, I'm starting to see some of that growth! I started off with one basil, one oregano, two sage, and one parsley container. Within the first week, my little basil there in the photo was peaking her little head above the soil (isn't she gorgeous). Talk about my pride and joy! I've shown her off to just about anyone who has walked in the door. Lookie, lookie, lookie! It's alive. I planted it! He he! And yes, you would be right - I don't get out much. 

Now, three weeks after I planted those first seedlings, both the oregano and parsley are showing off their beautiful little leaves, and Sunday marked my first sage sighting! One of the sage-lings didn't make it, so I planted two more as well as a second basil yesterday. I'm definitely enjoying the beginnings of my herb garden with so many more plans to come. Of course none of them are ready for transplanting yet, but I'm prepared for that special day when my little ones graduate from their little seedling bowls to the next level (see my recent pot acquisition in the photo). While I was walking my dog on Sunday morning, I noticed these three stacks of pots sitting on the corner of a neighborhood home a few blocks away. It looked like they were being left for trash. I came back by with my bike later in the afternoon and asked the homeowner if he minded me taking them. He didn't. It took me three trips on my bike to get them all back to the house but they're all home now and I'm feeling prepared. Talk about frugal, and green, and simple!

Now, in discussing my herbs, I can't forget to mention my mint plant. This one I bought (already partially grown) at the farmers market in April as my test drive into green-thumb-dom. The mint, as you can see, is truly flourishing and I enjoy a little every morning in a nice cup of tea. How wonderful it will be when I am able to browse through my backyard to select ALL the herbs I need for my culinary adventures. These little beauties are alive and growing; and it feels really good!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish mine were doing so well. These heat waves are wiping them out. Only the basil and dill seem to be able to handle the temp. fluctuations. My mint is looking a little....flaccid.

ib mommy said...

Yay! Another crazy person:) My husband thinks I'm insane for getting so excited about my little babies.

Your basil looks great! It won't take long before you're eating basil every day just to keep it from growing everywhere:)

I have beautiful swallowtail butterfly caterpillars munching on my parsley and dill. I planted a patch this year just for them to have a nice herb salad.

Green Bean said...

Good for you! I'm so happy your babies are all growing. :)

J said...

Oh how fun! Isn't gardening a blast. I can't tell you how excited I get every time a seed actually sprouts.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your little baby herbs.

That mint looks nice!

Melissa said...

It is funny, isn't it, how much pride we take in not killing something? :) apparently I also need to get out more!

Anonymous said...

I totally get your excitement. During my month long trip, I thought about my babies many times. It is actually quite strange for me to be missing my vegetables :)

It's probably a good thing that you keep your mint in a pot - a confined space. Otherwise it may take over your yard! :)

hmd said...

Organic needle - The mint is doing well outside, but with the rest of them being seedlings, mine are still inside in the nice temp-controlled air. Even so, they didn't all make it. I had to redo one of those sage. I'm really hoping that the sage will take off so I don't have to buy any more for my tea (I mix sage and mint for tea every morning).

IB Mommy - But it's fun isn't it! I just can't believe I'm actually growing something! And if I end up with too much, I can always sell some at the farmers market or barter with some one there for something else that I need - ooh, yeah. That would be cool!

Green Bean - thanks! It's all so exciting :)

Jennifer - thanks! I can use all the well wishes I can get. So far so good!

Melissa - yeah, I get excited over so many things that others feel are no-brainers. Oh well. We all learn at different rates and maybe it's better to be excited rather than complacent about the miracles of life :)

Cindy - yeah, I'm already concerned about us being away for 4 days with no water. Eek! Dave keeps telling me they'll be fine, but I know that I'll be checking on them the minute we return.

Anonymous said...

I planted an eggling (named Paiva) about 2 months ago and it's really taken off. I feel like a proud parent watching her grow.

Joan said...

We started our gardening adventure with herbs as well and some cat grass for our cat Chloe. It's been fun. We're moving on to bigger adventures with our square foot garden.

hmd said...

Amy Purple - I know exactly what you mean. There's nothing wrong with being a proud mama :)

Joan - that's our next step - SFGing. We bought the book a few weeks ago. Now we just have to get our act together and start building some squares...

Sam said...

Congrats! My herbs have always dried up except for basil. So I am envious of your babies.

hmd said...

Oh no, Beany. Can you replant? Mine are just sitting in the window sill waiting to be replanted when they're old enough (I think they enjoy the temperature controlled air as much as I do) :)