Herb Garden 3 (inactive)

[kanewai]

I'm back home after a very long and wonderful trip to France and Greece - and ready to start gardening again!

I planted the Harvest this afternoon, using seeds I already had.   I have more seeds on order, so I won't plant the Bounties until they all arrive.   

For all my record keeping, I never kept track of the sources of my seeds. I can't recall which grew, and which were duds.  Lesson learned.  

My plan this round:

Harvest
chives (Seeds of Change) 
zaatar (Thyme Garden)
sage (Thyme Garden)
cress (Aina Ola)
chervil (Botanical Interests)
marjoram (Aerogarden pod)

Bounty 1 - For the big herbs
Genovese basil (AG pod)
lime basil (AG pod)
lemon basil (AG pod)
Persian basil (Richters)
lemon balm (Richters)
spearmint

Yeah, that's a lot of basil.  The flavored ones are an experiment to see how I like them.

Bounty 2
epazote (Richters) - trying this one more time
pipicha (Richters) - it's been hard finding a source
fernleaf dill (Richters)
savory
cilantro
mitsuba
thyme
Italian parsley
lavender

I know better than to fill every slot! And yet I'm planning on it again. It's possible some of these won't grow.

And ... I ordered a third bounty for work, and the Mountain Meadow pack. I might mix in some chamomile and lavender.

[Sher]

Glad to see you back. I loved hearing about your trip.

Most of us know not to plany every hole, but it's almost impossible to resist!

And now you are adventuring into flowers at work! That's wonderful!

[kanewai]

I now have lots of healthy looking guys growing in two Bounties.  My Harvest, meanwhile, seems to be a killing-machine. 

Harvest 

marjoram - growing slowly
chervil - growing slowly
thyme - I thought it sprouted, but a few days later there was nothing there
oregano - sprouted, but then the leaves turned white
chives - I thought it sprouted, but on closer look it was just bulbs of algae.  Did the algae eat the sprouts?
mitsuba - nothing yet

The Bounties - it's been about two weeks, and I've just started removing the plastic caps

Persian basil - It took two weeks, but I now see growth.   I'm not even sure what "Persian" basil is; I just liked the name
lime basil - looks strong. This will be a new one for me also.
lemon basil - ditto
lemon balm - ditto
fernleaf dill - it was surprisingly hard finding seeds
lavender - for some reason I thought this was hard to grow, but it looks strong
savory
pipicha
epazote - this is my third or fourth try, and the first time I've had success sprouting them
Italian parsley

I planted thyme and chives yesterday, to replace the ones that weren't growing in the Harvest. I'll put in some oregano too.  Once the plants are strong I'll move them to the Harvest.

Hopefully in a few weeks I can start harvesting!

[Sher]

Sounds like you are keeping your AGs busy. Way to go!

[kanewai]

I try to keep such good notes - but I replant seeds that don't grow, I move pods around ... and now I have mystery pods and I can't remember that they are!  

Harvest

After algae slimed a couple pods I washed out the machine, and moved some plants over that already had roots.  Hopefully that will help keep the algae in check.  I only have this problem with the Harvest, never with the Bounty.

Current inhabitants, from left to right: marjoram, lavender, thyme, Italian parsley, chervil, and sage.  I'm a bit worried about the chervil; it sprouted nicely, but doesn't appear to be strong.  






The basil garden: lime, lemon, Thai, Persian, and Genovese.  There is going to be a lot of pesto in my future



Harvest II: savory, epazote (first time!), Greek oregano (just planted last night), mystery, cilantro, fernleaf dill, pipicha, lemon balm.

The two mysteries (I think they're chives and oregano) and the cilantro haven't sprouted.  Everybody else looks good; I should have a better picture in a week or two.

[Sher]

I love watching your progress.

[kanewai]

 set the garden on vacation mode and left town for ten days.  It's time to check on the kids ...

Harvest, from bottom left: marjoram, lavender, thyme, Italian parsley, sage.   It's time to trim the sage and marjoram. Both do very well dried, so I'll start in on my Italian herb mix.  I can use that on everything.  



Bounty, from bottom left: epazote, savory, Greek oregano (still tiny), chive (singular), fernleaf dill, lemon balm, pipicha.

The epazote is used for black bean dishes in Latin America. It's pungent, so I'm not sure what else I'd use it for.

The savory looks very different this round. Last time it was much more compact. Perhaps one was summer and one winter savory?  It has the same nice peppery taste

The Greek oregano is still so tiny.   I'll have to make sure he gets enough light.

I would use a lot of chives if I had 'em, so I'm hoping this single one turns into a bunch.

It's nice to see that fernleaf dill behaves itself, and doesn't try to take over the unit like regular fill.

I don't know what to do with lemon balm.  It smells nice

I'm glad the pipicha is doing well.  I'll make a batch of salsa verde or guacamole with it this weekend.



Bounty 2: Lime basil, lemon basil, Persian basil (still small), Genovese basil, and a tiny little Thai basil in back.  It's time for a trim.  I don't have enough to make a proper pesto, so I'll mix these in with some goat cheese.

*oops - photo removed by myself ... I didn't catch my reflection in the mirror!  And, er, I was gardening naked.  I'll repost with a proper one.

[Sher]

Nice to see your update, kanewai! 

[Shawn]

Great to see you check in

[lynnee]

kanewai, gotta be careful about that naked gardening! Kinda sorry I missed the photo.

[kanewai]

Nov 30, 2021 14:09:53 GMT -5 lynnee said:

kanewai , gotta be careful about that naked gardening! Kinda sorry I missed the photo.

It wasn't flattering!  Otherwise I might not have rushed to delete it.

[waterphoenix]

Your sage looks so healthy. I grew some from seed outdoors but I've avoided growing it in the Aerogarden as I thought it'd get too moist and die. I may need to give it a shot in the future.

[kanewai]

Three months on ...

The all-basil garden was a good idea.  I've been making pesto in bulk now, and freezing half of what I make each time.   Basil crowds out so many other herbs; it's easier just giving them their own space.   The Persian and Genovese basils produced much more than the lemon and lime.   Sadly, I wasn't paying attention when I was harvesting, & cut right through the power cord.  The plants had a couple weeks of darkness before a new cord arrived.   They seem to have survived.

I moved plants around a lot as they grew too big, or were getting crowded out.  Here's where things stand now:  

Harvest - currently my "Mediterranean" garden

lavender
marjoram
thyme
oregano

These are all nice and compact, and doing well.  The marjoram flowered, but I cut it back & it's doing fine.  These are all slow growers, so I get just enough to cook with.


Bounty - the basil garden

Genovese basil 
lime basil 
lemon basil 
Persian basil 





Bounty 2 - The big herbs.

epazote - really interesting addition for bean and mushroom dishes.  After it flowered the leaves didn't have as much flavor. Grows quickly, so I'll need to keep it trimmed better in the future.

Italian parsley - Looking a little straggly.  OK flavor.

chives - I have a couple chives.  Not enough.  Next round I'll plant some in a pot near the garden; that worked better for me in the past.

sage - Straggly. Good flavor. I don't use sage a lot, but I like having it on hand.


No longer in the AG

zaatar - I like this variant of oregano better than the standard version, but this round my seeds didn't sprout.

savory - The first savory I planted was excellent. I think it was winter savory.  The next two weren't as flavorful, and flowered early. I wonder if these weren't summer savory.  Both seed packs were only labeled "savory."

fernleaf dill - Poor thing was crowded out by other plants.

lemon balm (melissa) - nice flavor, but super aggressive!  The roots formed a solid block in the water. I planted some sprigs outside that appear to be doing well in the shade.

pipicha - It grew so well and strong that it lifted itself right out of the pod.   

chervil - didn't grow well in the AG, but is doing well outside.

spearmint - way too aggressive for the AG!  I think I would need one unit just for mint. 


didn't sprout

cilantro 
mitsuba
cress 


I'm ready to replant my second bounty.  I'm looking at pipicha, winter savory, zaatar, epazote, and maybe one or two more.

I liked when I had companion plants around the units, though I'll need to watch out for aphids and other pests.  For these, I'm looking at negi onion, mint, and balm.  

[Sher]

I'm very happy to see your update, kanewai. I especially appreciated seeing which herbs behaved well in a Harvest as I am more likely to have one available.

The variety of herbs you grow continues to amaze me.

[lynnee]

Love your reviews of the unusual herbs, kanewai! I invested in a Sprout for experimenting with herbs that seem interesting to grow, and you have mentioned quite a few that are new to me.

Glad that you didn't electrocute yourself! I'm so afraid that I'm going to cut a cord or wire when I'm pruning something--so far the worst I've done is hack off a huge branch of fruiting tomatoes or peppers, because I couldn't see what I was cutting.