[Keakie]

Here's hoping it works out. It's in a good spot in terms of sunlight (it doesn't look like it in this picture but this picture was taken pretty late in the afternoon).

We've got some basil, cilantro (I may move that to the bottom as it starts to get hotter out) and rosemary, and then the other two are dill and marjoram seeds. There weren't any starter plants for those two so I'm attempting to grow them from seed.

[magz88]

Very nice. Let us kow what delicious meals you end up using the herbs for.

[Mom2Brendan]

awesome! what kind of basil did you plant ?

[Keakie]

I just went with sweet basil. I figured I'd use it the most, since I haven't used the other types in very many things.

[Hippy Witchy Chicky]

I planted a variety of herbs for my friend the other day.

DH is tilling the garden tonight and then I'll plant some veggies/fruits and some herbs outside as well.

[Keakie]

It's been a little over a week and I thought I would post an update.



I *think* they're doing well. Side by side, the basil looks like it's gotten taller and the cilantro looks bushier and fuller than it did in the first picture (although I did move it for optimal sunlight and so the angle is a little different). The rosemary looks taller too, I think. I've been worried about the basil because it seems slightly droopy to me, but for all I know it's supposed to be that way. There are a couple places that the cilantro looks iffy too but overall I feel good about that one because it's so green and bushy and I can see new leaves growing.

Experienced gardeners, you tell me. Do things look healthy? I added some pictures of the dill and marjoram seedlings in the seedling thread.

[Mom2Brendan]

Never planted herbs but I think they are looking great.

[Corrupt]

Everything looks good to me. Basil does look a bit droopy normally

[Hippy Witchy Chicky]

Looks good so far. Your cilantro is getting more height which means it's stalks are strong and shouldn't fall over like all mine have

[Keakie]

It was all fallen over yesterday actually. I think it just needed some water because I did that and then it perked up in another couple of hours. It's BIG - I feel like another week later is kind of soon to post another picture but the basil and cilantro have gotten much bigger (I think so, anyway) and the seedlings seem to be doing quite well.

[Keakie]

The garden is still going well for the most part. I did have some setbacks when I was couch-ridden with a fever over the weekend (and Monday) and my poor, neglected cilantro looked more like a weeping willow for a moment. I did manage to get out there and give them all a good water while my ibuprofen was working and it seems to have perked back up, but I did need to trim a lot of shriveled leaves.



This is the side I had to remove the most from, and it shows.




And some close ups of the damage that's still on some of the leaves.



This makes me feel better though, and makes me feel like I haven't killed it forever!



The dill is coming along great though!



Marjoram is a little slower growing... I'm also having issues because of the soil and the watering can - when I water, sometimes it's hard to control how much comes out and it pours faster than it's absorbed, so water piles up above the seedlings and it moves all of the soil around. The woodchips and what not keep smushing the seedlings. I know these ones have a longer growth time than dill in the first place, but I'm hoping the smushing hasn't set me up to fail forever with these. We shall see.



The basil is doing great. There's a bit of a blank space from this angle, but a lot of that is because I took 3 big leaves off last night for dinner.



I *think* the rosemary is growing well? I feel like it's a hard one to track without a ruler.

So that's where we are right now.

[magz88]

Looks good Keakie.

Have you added any of your lovely herbs to any meals?

You can eat the herbs whenever you like, they don't have to be a certain size.

[Keakie]

Yep. I mentioned somewhere up there that I used some basil in a side dish last night. I used some cilantro in a chicken fried rice dish I made, too. I used rosemary in my breading for some pork chops last week, and I used a lot of basil in a soup a little before that. The dill isn't ready to harvest yet, but I'm looking forward to using it with potatoes or dips, or maybe fish. The marjoram... I'm not sure yet.

I'm actually debating either making some salsa or pico de gallo with the cilantro, or some bruschetta with the basil this weekend, but I'm not sure which. I'm craving the salsa or pico options a little more, but I'm also hesitant to mess with that plant too much right now.

[Lorena26]

Nice!!! I have never grown herbs but yours look very nice!!

[Mom2Brendan]

Great looking pictures.

[Keakie]

I'm back with more updates. You'll have to excuse the poorer quality of these ones - I took them on the iPad instead of with the normal camera because I didn't want to deal with uploading them with the camera software.



I moved the marjoram to the top in hopes the extra sunlight would help it out. That and the basil is getting ginormous. Apparently, marjoram typically does take longer to grow so it's normal that it's so much smaller than the dill I planted the same day. This makes me feel better.



The dill, on the other hand, is flourishing.



See what I mean about the ginormous basil? Dh came home the other night and informed me it was trying to eat our house.



The rosemary *seems* to be doing well? It's not as sturdy as it was before but I don't know if that's a bad sign or just because it's getting bigger. There's something new sprouting up in this pot too, and I'm not sure if it's more rosemary or a random weed. It seems to smell like rosemary, but I'm not sure if it's the seedling or just the rosemary plant towering next to it. Time will tell I suppose. I about gave my husband a heart attack this afternoon when I sent him an IM that said, "So. I think we have a baby coming... a baby rosemary plant."



And, last but not least, my cilantro plant. It has been majorly harvested twice and still looks busy. It is starting to bolt, though (you can see the feathery leaves starting towards the middle). It stinks but I'm not surprised, as based on everything I've read about cilantro it happens fairly easily and quickly. I'll keep harvesting what I can and otherwise expect some nice coriander seeds and pretty flowers soon.