No new pictures to post – just a status report…
The Dill started coming back from being chopped down to nothing, but with a little elbow room, the Cilantro has pretty much taken over. I”m not kidding, when I say I have to trim it a little every day or two. Yesterday I trimmed a few of the taller stalks, and right before I went to bed, another one was practically touching the light. At first I was refilling the water tank every two weeks, then weekly, now more often. I’ve got a machine that turns water into herbs!
The Basils are doing well, as is the parsley, the chives could be doing better (under the shadow of the cilantro as well), and the mint is fine. But the clear victor (and if only to taunt me with a lack of knowledge and experience) is the cilantro. (I’ve always subsituted parsley for it in recipes, not liking the “soapy” flavor of it in dried form. – but I love the citrusy scent of it fresh!)
I’m debating letting this batch run its course for as long as possible, or let it run it’s course and clear crop it down in a month or so when I”ve used up the last of the nutrients for it, and start a crop of lettuce in time for the summer (I’ll do well enough with tomatoes outside). OR talk my wife into running a second garden to do both.
Lettuce sounds like a good next step, as we buy the organic heads, or clamshell packs, and never use it all up before it spoils. Clipping a few leaves for sandwiches everyday really appeals – now that I have a freezer filling up with fresh herbs!
-- southern NH. - smack dab in the middle of 5a and 5b - with lots of shade and full sun, in all the wrong places.
3 comments so far
MsDebbieP
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8102 posts in 1148 days
hardiness zone 5b
posted 899 days ago
I like the idea of the lettuce.
Last year I’d go out and snip just a handful of spinach leaves and lettuce leaves – just enough for the sandwich or whatever. I twas nice not to have a fridge full of leftover mush when I didn’t use it all.
I think I have cilantro in my seed packs that I ordered. I’m looking forward to the fresh taste!
-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan
XploreOrganics
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1370 posts in 1027 days
hardiness zone 5b
posted 899 days ago
Some of the fancy lettuces such as red oak leaf, grand rapids, ciero, revoultion and butterhead letuces can set a nice backdrop in a flower garden. If you have limited space try incorporating some fancy lettuce with non-toxic flowers.
-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20
scottb
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213 posts in 1027 days
hardiness zone 5
posted 899 days ago
apart from Nasturtiums, what flowers are edible, or at least non-toxic and able to be grown next to veg – and/or more importantly, what should NOT be planted near food for the same reasons?
-- southern NH. - smack dab in the middle of 5a and 5b - with lots of shade and full sun, in all the wrong places.