From Herb Garden to Jungle

August 2nd, 2011 - Starting from seedlings and seeds, the herb garden has been thriving ever since it made its new home at Elawa. In fact, the basil and dill plants are reaching to about three feet tall already and flowering! It's amazing how fast plants can grow, even the weeds. It boggles my mind.

However, not all of the plants survived (sniff sniff). The sage has had a hard time from the middle of July because there is no drainage for my beds at Elawa, and sage plants need drainage. I had to harvest the two remaining plants that I had left; I had five originally. I plucked the leaves and took them home. When I got home, I soaked them in water for a few days and my mom used them for cooking vegetable stir-fry (yum) as the days passed by. They created this fantastic flavor; my family and I enjoyed our delicious meals filled with "sage-ness".

The following pictures display the progress of my herb garden as of the beginning of August. I also posted just some sidenotes to keep you updated. Enjoy!

ROSEMARY: the rosemary plants don't seem like they've grown :( Maybe it's because of the hot and dry weather that we've been having in Chicago. But they've still managed to maintain their fresh scent all summer!

THYME: Just like the rosemary, the thyme plants haven't been growing but they still maintain they're great smell :). Please mind the weeds that have been ferociously growing all over my bed.

OREGANO: Again, this plant has failed to grow and due to the dry and hot weather, some of the leaves have turned yellow and brown. In addition to this little patch of oregano, I also have another patch that started from from seed!

CILANTRO: As you can see, the cilantro has grown to be HUGE! At least three feet and it's also flowering which means... HARVEST TIME! More to come on that note. Again however, the hot weather has made some of the cilantro leaves become yellow and brown on the bottom of the plant.

BASIL: These pictures are taken from my mini patch of basil grown from seed! Can you believe it? Watching plants grow is such an enlightening experience, no matter how cliché that sounds. I also have another patch of basil that is huge on Bed #2, which you shall see in a bit.

PARSLEY: Sadly, some of the parsley has died (again due to the hot and dry weather). They have turned yellow and brown. However, maybe it was my fault because I should have harvested them earlier... I shouldn't blame Mother Nature for everything...

SAGE: As I had said before, three out of the five sage plants have died. Now I know what to do if I ever want to grow sage at my own house, drainage will be needed!

BASIL (BED #2): There's only one word to describe this.... HUGE.

DILL: Just like the basil, the dill has grown to be about three feet. However, the bottom of the dill plant has also become dried out and it is a sort of reddish, yellowish color. I must say though, that the color of dry dill is quite pretty.

BED #1

BED #2