green thumb?
I dunno what it is about me, but I blame “Dodgy Phil”(tm) for it all! I’ve had this sudden interest lately with gardening, and in particular growing herbs. I’ve started cooking a lot recently, and yes for those who do really know me, I’m not kidding ;-P
I’ve got this thing for cooking Indian dishes in particular as well as a broad range of other dishes. I’ve found myself enjoying the cooking of more complex dishes that require a multitude of ingredients like herbs and spices. My odd gardening fetish if you can call it that, is based around having a fresh supply of herbs that I can use in my cooking. I started off with some chilli plants, which I now have 3 plants. None have beared chillies yet, but they should be merely a few weeks away. I have enjoyed watching my chilli plants grow from their humble beginnings as a single dried chilli. This in turn has interested me in growing more herbs from seeds. Previously I had planted matured herbs which were ready for pickings immediately. I have since thrown out these plants when I moved house recently and have in the past few weeks bought a series of terracotta pots for growing herbs in each individual pot. I finished planting these herbs today, so in roughly another 12-14 days I’ll have started seeing some seedlings sprout. 
I ended up giving in and buying mint and rosemary seedlings from the local nursery just so there was something to look at in the 9 odd pots I have lined up in my back courtyard. So far I’ve got mint, rosemary, basil, chives, chilli (yes, I planted a 4th pot now with chilli seeds), strawberries, spring onions, coriander and parsley. Sara also has her complimentary hanging basket and pot with silk pansies and some kind of bulb flowers (they’re not mine I swear! hehe).
Interesting to see how they all go… 
Filed under: m.o