Mary’s Basils and Cilantro 12/19/17

[MaryL]

New Harvest arrived and I planted parsley, 2 cilantros (1 of which is still in a wet paper towel to germinate), and 3 kinds of basil (Genovese, lemon, and Corinne’s dwarf Greek basil).  The cilantro and parsley will remain in this machine while the basils will all go in a tall machine given how big they get.  (Come to think of it, I should find somewhere to plant a 4th basil pod because the tall machine can handle it.  Hmmm, where though??).



And I rearranged my corner area under the kitchen tv to make them look at least somewhat organized.  (Also trying to be clever and attempt to cover up the cable, plugs and wires that are littering this corner.)  

A Happy Gang of Three!
Golly, your counter is pristine!

[MaryL]

My counter is *ugly*, lol.  If I even halfway liked my cabinets I would’ve resurfaced long ago.  But alas it’ll all require a wrecking ball, and I’m not ready for that yet.  Thank you for noticing the tidy part

[Shawn]

I hate my kitchen too Mary.  It needs to be ripped out and redone and re-arranged.  But I too am not ready to shell out all that money or have the mess that comes with it.

Around here the houses are over 100 yrs old. I have a young cousin who has a lovely old home and when he married they opted to keep the 'dumb waiter'. People are re-doing them and , yes, the wrecking ball takes a lot of patience with the dust, furniture storage , dwindled living space while it is being done and lots of $$$$.
Luckily for me I had only myself to care for and lived out of the 'den' and bathroom while they tore things up. I had 7 rooms of furniture crammed onto that sunporch and was just waiting for it to collapse under all the weight.I did stay at a motel for a few days while they sanded and finished the floors, though.
It is worth it in the end.

[MaryL]

Dec 29, 2017 13:21:36 GMT -5 Shawn said:

  But I too am not ready to shell out all that money or have the mess that comes with it.

I need my sanity intact for the near future, lol.

[MaryL]

Most of the herbs sprouted during my 10 days away.  Here are all 3 basils.  Out of shot are a sprouted cilantro (that one calls for a toast) and an unsprouted Parsley.  



Edited to add, the following are 2 different damp paper towels each with a different custom cilantro seed meant for the last pod hole.  But look how I got mold/mildew in there.  All of that is green mold, except for the dark fat seed on the left.  That’s never happened before, and I’m afraid to now put this in my garden with the others. Even though there doesn’t appear to be mold on the seeds themselves. So weird.

I like the paper towel method, but have also gotten mold in my bags. Now I put them on the top of the hoods and the warmth acts like a gentle heat mat and speeds up germination giving the mold/mildew less time to form in the dampness..

[Shawn]

I like that idea Corinne.

[MaryL]

Dec 29, 2017 14:01:28 GMT -5 @cornne said:

 I put them on the top of the hoods and the warmth acts like a gentle heat mat and speeds up germination giving the mold/mildew less time to form in the dampness..

You know what’s funny, is that I thought I had put them on top of the hood as the ideal place - I had intended to, at least.  But when I went to look for them I couldn’t find them on top of any hoods, lol.  And as I sit here now I can’t even tell you where I did find them, but find them I did.  

I think what’s also going on here is that I don’t think I’ve ever left them alone this long without at least fluffing the bag to get some new air in there.  Thanks for sharing your experience Corinne, that makes perfect sense.  And I feel better now. 

[MaryL]

All 3 basils (on the right) are up, and the cilantro is doing great. But the parsley and 2nd cilantro are doing nothing.

[Shawn]

I am going to plant some Parsley.

[MaryL]

Jan 6, 2018 11:47:26 GMT -5 MaryL said:

All 3 basils (on the right) are up, and the cilantro is doing great. But the parsley and 2nd cilantro are doing nothing.

Had a sudden growth spurt in 4-5 days.  Especially that cilantro!!

[Shawn]

Happy plants and an EXCITED Cilantro

[MaryL]

See how I’m getting this dark ring around my cilantro?  Is that ok or no?  Has it happened to you?

[drbanks]

happens to me all the time, but I'm Queen Cilantro Jinx

[Shawn]

I do not recall it happening to me, but that is not say say it has not.   What brand seeds are these?  Are they old?

[MaryL]

I’m almost positive it’s an AG kit pod. I’d have to double check though.

[MaryL]

The following pictures were taken Sunday and Wednesday.  That’s a pretty big difference for 3 days!  





This is the little node that grew after after making the initial prune.

[Shawn]

I'd say.  Nice growth spurt.