I QUIT!

Okay, fine.  Maybe I don’t quit.  But seriously, I spent yesterday afternoon re-potting my herb garden and raddishes and then the raddish pot just flew off the window sill onto the ground.  it might have had to do with a freak thunderstorm at 8 PM and Jon and I rushing around to close windows without, maybe, looking at wheter or not the window would be closing on the pot if we just slammed it down but whatever.

I’m requesting this book from the library and am hoping that it will give me some tips for growing herbs indoors because, for serious, right now it’s been kind of an epic failure.

At least we’re going to Artomatic tonight, that’ll improve my mood I’m sure.

Last night we feasted!  Well, maybe not feasted but after some research I figured out that my basil plants were way overdue for some pruning given the small size of the container I’m growing them in.  So, I plucked the leaves off, gave them a quick rinse, and broke out the bread, mozzarella, peppers, and salami.  It made for an excellent light dinner.

Despite the tastyness of this batch of basil, I’m going to have to start over with the herb garden….

There are three reasons for this.  First, even with the anti-fungal baking soda, soap, and oil mixture which seems to have cut down on my fungus and bug problem the basil plant still gets bugs quickly (like, I have to spray everyday or the little critters come back.  They’re harmless but annoying and kind of gross).  I think this is probably the result of using a plastic pot with few drain holes.

Second, the cilantro just didn’t get enough light.  I’m going to move it, probably to our bedroom, where it stays cooler and gets more sun. I wont even show you a picture of the cilantro– that little plant is just too sad for words a picture right now.

Third, none of the plants are able to stand up and I don’t think I’m going to be able to fix that without re-starting.  Their stems at the soil are just to flimsy.  It might be time to take the plants up to the roof.  Surely my landlord wont notice/mind.

I’ll let you know how the second round goes.  Like Ariel, I think I spend more energy and time on this garden than I would buying the basil at the store, but I’m doing it because I want to learn to garden.  Just like I want to learn how to run (more on this soon, FYI).  This summer has been about taking on some things that I want to do but aren’t sure about or will fail at just to prove that it wont really matter if I do fail the first, second, or even third time.

Hello, my name is Ashley and I am a terrible gardener.  Personally, I don’t think it should be all that hard to grow herbs inside and so I am kind of taking this whole fungus and bug infestation thing kind of personally.  I did everything right– I did!  There are rocks and some sand and then soil, I try not to over water, I feed my plants with compost tea and and and I still got fungus and bugs.

I didn’t take any photos of the fungal infection that got into my plants, but I can tell you what I’m trying: vegetable oil, baking soda, castile soap, and water.  I didn’t want to use any of the super harsh anti-fungals (afterall, isn’t the point of growing your own veggies and herbs that you wont have to worry about yucky chemicals).  Anyway, I found this suggestiong after some Google searching for things like “home remedy for house plant fungus” etc.  I found this website, GHOrganics, that has some nice ideas for different sprays to control fungus, pests, etc.

Right, so I scraped off the top 2 inches of soil, mixed up some anti-fungal spray and am hoping for the best.  Also, helpful piece of knowledge: a typical spray nozzle fits onto a Miller High Life bottle- go figure.  I’m happy because it is glass, was pulled out of my recycling bin, and did NOT require a trip tot he hardware store.  If I have to spend much more on this little indoor herb garden experament I wont be able to justify this as a cost effective way of getting herbs.

Oh, and this is just more evidence that Baking Soda can pretty much fix any problem in the home.  I really need to invest in that book, Baking Soda, with 500+ uses for this fabulous household powder.

My garden has nothing on Ariel’s– my thumb is, not green really, more like a deep yellow that, in the right light, looks kind of green.  Booger green, maybe.  Anyway, my basil sprouts seem to be coming back from the almost-dead, and the cilantro is holding on too.  I mean, I feel like for a wee little windowsill garden that gets only 4-5 hours of sunlight a day, my basil is lookin’ not so bad.

Last week I put some fertilizer in it (some semi-natural fertilizer) and some compost tea.  This seemed to really, really help– almost over night the basil got a lot bigger and the cilantro got way greener.  Indoor gardening is a little harder than I thought it’d be, but I’m feeling pretty happy with my (ever so slow) progress.

Do ya’ll have any tips for a windowsill garden?