Herbs

06Apr08

OK, so as promised here’s a pic of the old herb garden. From left, that’s rosemary, thyme, three tomato plants (at the back), lemon thyme, courgette and mint. In the box, from left, there’s parsley, two sage plants, and marjoram. The tomatoes, courgette, small sage plant and parsley are all from seed — the rest were bought from flower shops or greengrocers. Apparently supermarket plants are to be avoided as they’re generally started hydroponically and are therefore very fragile.

These are next to a west-facing window in our kitchen. We don’t have a south-facing window in the flat, so this is next best. They don’t get a great deal of light as a) this is Glasgow and b) we’ve got fairly high buildings on all sides that block much of the sun, so I’ve augmented the light with a daylight-balanced bulb I’d been using in the office.

It’s been a lot harder than I thought it’d be to establish herbs from seed. Only the sage has really got going, and the parsley a bit as well. The courgette and tomato plants have been a surprise though — the courgette actually seems about to flower, which I’m pretty excited about (I want it mainly for the flowers rather than the fruit).

The rosemary, thyme and lemon thyme have already seen good use in the kitchen, and seem pretty hardy. I’m hoping that with spring supposedly on its way that things are going to be good from now till summer. In any case, it’s been a really nice way to spend a few minutes each day.

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