Saturday, June 20, 2009

Biding my thyme. . .

About a month ago, we decided to plant a little herb garden in planters on our back deck (small enough to be taken indoors for winter, but large enough to yield a nice crop). We planted basil, chives, dill, mint, rosemary, sage, and thyme. We started them all from seeds, which was probably our first mistake (I knew it even at the time, I am not going to lie), and they have been taking their precious time in growing, and I have never been one for patience. Granted, it is mostly my own fault. I have never had what might be described as a green thumb. I usually either accidentally neglect plants entirely until they inevitably just commit suicide and whither in the sun, or, on the flip side, I end up loving them too much, investing all of my hopes and dreams into them, which translates into over watering, as I drown whatever life is left inside of them with my affection. It's a difficult balance, especially here in Oregon, where it will inevitably rain just after I have watered. This last week, I think precisely because we have cut back on our Chinese water torture (er...watering), the plants are finally beginning to show some small will to live. So I am biting my lip, and going against all of my loving instincts, in the hope that they will slowly begin to thrive despite me. And with any luck, we will soon be hacking them to bits and eating them. (So, I guess, as it turns out, the moral is, at my house, as far as herbs go, all roads lead to death.)

happy little chives

mmm... lookin' dill-icious

just give it some thyme

sad little sage

4 comments:

BK said...

Actually, those are AMAZING from seed, especially the thyme and sage. Those perennial herbs can be bastards to start. I think they'll be harvest-able by Thanksgiving :)

Hennifer said...

Oh my gosh!!! I could have written that bit about my experience with plants myself!

I'm kicking myself for letting my few herbs die and while those planters that hug my rail are cute and handy they cause a problem when needing to winter indoors.

pksarna said...

So, just to be clear, all you did was buy seeds, put them in dirt and then water them (sometimes too much, sometimes too little). If I do that, I will have delicious dill and chives like you have?

Jacob Blankenship said...

I put a little fertilizer and compost in there too, but yeah. Just seeds, dirt, water, and full sun. I wish we would have planted a lot more of the dill and chives...since I can use a cup of them at a time in different things, you know? But still, I am happy with our first little attempt at mothering nature.