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Post by bixaorellana on May 25, 2016 16:24:31 GMT
I had wonderful dill when I lived up high, north of the city, never since then. It either doesn't come up or stunts here in the hot valley. Charlie had tons of it one year, though, but could never get it to "do" after that.
I would love to have some lemon balm, which I always had & used when I lived in the US.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 14, 2017 18:24:23 GMT
My basil in the window box has grown so brilliantly this year that it is overshadowing the valliant attempt of the new crop of dill to grow. Meanwhile, the mint is looking rather pathetic -- I think it needs to be pulled up and replaced.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 15, 2017 19:28:40 GMT
I have a rampant oregano ('dingle fairy') that is completely taking over my herb bed...at the back end of Autumn I shall be digging clumps out and sharing them with my family and neighbours as it is a lovely variety. I need to replace my thymes,sage and rosemary in the spring as they've all seen better days. I would take cuttings of the rosemary but I've not been impressed with it's flavour and need to seek out another variety or just a stronger plant. I grew a lovely basil this year but didn't use it much for cooking, except to decorate the odd home made pizza...the flowers were beautiful tho.
I bought a new bay plant in the spring, but haven't had the heart to chuck away my tatty old one yet.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 15, 2017 20:27:07 GMT
Oooo ~ I looked up that oregano and *desire*! Why don't you try some in a hanging basket, as long as you're separating it.
My rosemary was strong and happy, but after the incessant rains and gray days, entire branches were dead. Fingers crossed that it will be okay now that the sun seems (mostly) to have returned.
Ohh, can't you rejuvenate your old bay? When I left the US twenty years ago, I gave my sister in south Texas my bay, which is still in a pot and still going strong in her yard.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 16, 2017 8:28:42 GMT
Kerouac - Your herbs looked wonderful - You can even view them from the street below...sitting snugly on the window ledge. tinyurl.com/ybqefoxl
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 18, 2017 11:27:54 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 18, 2017 15:58:12 GMT
My word! I see it has bolted and flowers are appearing. I think that's the end of it unless you prune it drastically but then it's not the right time of the year to do that.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 18, 2017 17:32:33 GMT
Tod, lots of basils bloom like that all year. All he has to do is cut off the flowering tips, which can also be used in cooking, and let it keep growing.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 18, 2017 17:46:35 GMT
I cut off all of the tips. The internet says that the older the plant gets, the less flavour the leaves have, and the stems become woody. They go on to say that in that case you have to strip the leaves off the stem. Well duh, I have always stripped the leaves off the stems.
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Post by fumobici on Oct 18, 2017 18:13:19 GMT
My experience is that once the basil flowers the leaves get a bitter edge I don't really care for.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 18, 2017 18:43:13 GMT
They go on to say that in that case you have to strip the leaves off the stem. Well duh, I have always stripped the leaves off the stems. I just love that kind of direction and all its variations: "serve in an attractive dish" or "refrigerate any leftovers". I've never noticed any difference in flavor after the basil flowers. Even if I did, I'd probably put up with it as, once you prune the basil all the way down, another harvestable one doesn't magically appear.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 10, 2018 13:44:43 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 10, 2018 17:17:17 GMT
Get out the pesto fixin's!
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 4, 2018 16:49:22 GMT
Yesterday, I finally pulled up my dried up dill plants. I scraped off the seeds to save them. I put some of the seeds down in the same place to see if I can grow more dill this year. I did that same thing last year, and it was not exactly a success. The plants started to grow and then they suddenly stopped, even before it got cold. Nevertheless, they survived all winter (even though we had plenty of snow) and they started growing during the spring (along with some other seeds that I had planted).
Due to the heat wave, I don't know what to expect this year.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 6, 2018 14:29:20 GMT
My herb garden -
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 6, 2018 16:18:22 GMT
Oh, I LOVE that, Mick! What a wonderful way to use that space. It adds a beautiful design element while exploiting the reflected light off the white wall. Stellar!
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 6, 2018 16:22:08 GMT
Top left to right pineapple sage and French Tarragon, Bottom left to right oregano, sage, basil mint (just planted) , basil, thyme, garden mint and chives.
Rosemary in a pot.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 6, 2018 16:56:19 GMT
Excellent herb garden, Mick. My new dill seeds have already sprouted and are looking nice, but it is too soon to tell. The last set sprouted and then they all suddenly died. I have no idea why.
They are next to my mint plants which are excessively mature and which are all blooming, but for some reason I delight in seeing a total swarm of tiny pollinators flitting around nonstop. Living four floors above the street, I am in admiration that such tiny insects can find their pleasure so high above the ground.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 6, 2018 16:59:27 GMT
I remember holidaying in Spain many years ago and we had an ant infestation problem.
We were 8 floors up...
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 22, 2018 15:00:32 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 22, 2018 16:04:17 GMT
You have such a green thumb, I can only imagine what you'd do with a little plot of land!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2018 17:56:14 GMT
I can see Kerouac scattering all the seeds he could find all into a tiny plot to see what would come up!
Mick your herb collection is super lovely and as Bixa noted a great utilization of that space and the white brick.
It's so hot and humid here most of my herbs look pretty ragged.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 22, 2018 18:16:26 GMT
Thank you Casi. Much appreciated.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 12, 2019 17:50:50 GMT
I bought a new pot of basil yesterday and I even repotted it today. But it is staying safely in my kitchen for the next few days, particularly since tomorrow is supposed to be the coldest day of the month. I will put it outside on my window when we enter an acceptable warming phase.
Basil is so fragile in those little pots that it often decides to die without provocation. It is like a patient in intensive care for the first two weeks. After that, you're usually good to go.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 13, 2019 18:39:45 GMT
I've sown lemongrass, thyme, sage and chives so far and they've all germinated well. I've got Greek basil and fennel to sow sometime this week and some fancy stuff to sow later...cummin and coriander amongst others.
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Post by mickthecactus on May 10, 2019 16:47:56 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 10, 2019 18:13:43 GMT
In my window box, I put dill seeds, mixed wildflowers (not planning on eating them) and roquette in equal thirds. The roquette sprouted almost instantly. Still looking for the other stuff.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 10, 2019 21:35:34 GMT
Roquette is very fast-germinating.
What is the 2nd picture, Mick?
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Post by mickthecactus on May 12, 2019 8:25:40 GMT
Marjoram
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 20, 2019 18:37:16 GMT
My first crop of dill was huge but then the heat wave killed it, so I didn't even get any seeds this time. So I started a new crop in a small pot, but it only came up on one side of the pot. That's fine, because I put some seeds on the other side two weeks later which are just now coming up. So I should have usable dill for a longer period of time, and I hope that I will get some more seeds, even though I am far from running out of them.
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