Spring Herb Planting

Fresh Basil leaves for a Caprese salad.

Fresh muddled Mint for a nice Mojito.

Fresh chopped Cilantro for a delicious Guacamole or Salsa.

Fresh Oregano, Thyme or Rosemary for a new recipe.

How wonderful does that all sound?

The last few years, I have been planting my herbs from seeds and a few of my vegetable plants. It is super easy, I think everyone can do it.

I love going out to the patio and picking fresh herbs to add to my cooking.  Also- this method is MUCH cheaper. Buying fresh herbs in the grocery store is absolutely ridiculous!  Why spend $3.99 for a bunch of basil that might not even be enough for your recipe? Especially when you could have all the basil you want because it regenerates itself all summer for only $1.89 a package of seeds and a few small pots of soil.

Who doesn’t love fresh herbs?

I like to start my seedlings the end of March/ early April in a small “greenhouse” from the store.

This year I decided to plant several different herbs; Thyme, Cilantro, Oregano, Parsley, Chives, and Basil.  I can’t wait to make caprese salads, yum!

Then for my garden I started a few different types of tomato plants; Big boy, Sweeties, Aroma and Red Currant.  I really don’t like tomatoes, but The Boy loves them, and many recipes call for them, so I tolerate them. I much rather eat chocolate.

Greenhouses for seedlings are really easy. Just add water and your soil pellets are expanded and ready for the seeds.  Drop in a few seeds in each pot and you are almost picking your fresh herbs at this point. Well may be give the little guys a month or so to grow, but the growing part is only hard for the plants.

The last step is to cover the greenhouse with the seedling sheet of plastic that comes with the kit. This is odd looking, but it gets the job done.

I store my  greenhouse in a dark, cool closet until seedlings pop through the soil.  We call this closet our “Harry Potter Closet” because it is small, narrow and under the stairs.  We have offered it as a guest room before, but most people prefer the couch. Not really sure why.

The seedlings also get to hang out with the vacuum.  Lucky ducks!

I will allow these little ones to to grow about 4″ before transferring them to new pots outdoors.

This year I am going to try lettuce too… I will keep you posted on how that goes. I am really hoping for an never ending supply of garden lettuce 🙂

I am all ready for summer to begin. Can you believe it is only the beginning of April? So warm already, I am in heaven.

Happy Gardening 🙂


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