The Littlest Seedlings

They're growing! They're growing!! Last time you saw these suckers, they were so little and barely real. And now they're old enough to have their own pots! I transplanted everything last weekend, and forgot to post an update...ooops! I'm so proud of them, growing fast from just the light from my window. They grow up so fast...

 

So here's my jungle set up. I used another egg carton to replant the babies from the last one, since it was deteriorating. I went a little crazy and only bought a few pots thinking that would be enough, so I went through my kitchen cabinets and started emptying cans and also went through our recycling. 

Everything is growing swimmingly, except the dill. They're struggling, but I hope they catch up soon. I think they got a bit too leggy before I transplanted them...To be honest, I didn't expect to have this many healthy seedlings! I'm not used to windowsill planting. It's like trying to make one baby and ending up with 5, except there's a lot more than 5. 

So then the collection started spreading from the makeshift plant holder, to the windowsill, and then to the top of the air conditioning unit. After another week, the cilantro and the parsley started sprouting their true leaves, the chili peppers are doing the best, and the basil is cuter than ever.

 

Here's the cilantro! I didn't look at them for a couple of days, and then I saw that they were growing true leaves, or in other words, the leaves in the middle that look more like cilantro leaves. The other leaves are just their baby leaves. And the biggest surprise of all was the dill today! I was about to give up on them because the ones in the egg carton look sickly. I thought that these were parsley, but they were really dill!!

Look at those little leaves! They actually smell like dill now too!

Below are the chili pepper plants! They're so big and strong....I wish they had peppers already. So stay tuned for more growing! I'll probably post about them again in another two weeks! 

Herb Garden

 

 So I got creative, big deal. Herb garden on a piano stand in an egg carton? Now that's real class. After the untimely death of my 1 year old midget cactus, Moo, I decided to move forward in a positive way. "What better way than an herb garden!" I thought. So I grabbed a bunch of clothing, shoes and accessories that I no longer sport, brought them to good old Buffalo Exchange (hoping for maybe $5?) and left with a grand total of $22! Just the perfect amount for my herb garden supplies (plus some gluten free pastries at Tulu's Gluten Free Bakery down the street). When I got back home, I immediately ran into the living room, somehow thinking that I have space on my window sill bench? Or maybe my converted baker's rack plant stand? Then I should just make some pots on my pottery wheel that match my living room decor. But then I realized that I had none of these things. I had to quickly remind myself that I am, in fact, a lowly college student who sold clothing for an herb garden. Smart money moves. 

This is when I yanked out the keyboard stand that Melissa no longer uses, put the keyboard aside, as a reminder that piano lessons are still a possibility, and put my little plant stand together. I used some string to secure it to the keyboard stand and, used an old egg carton for little pots. You should have seen me poke little water holes on the bottom with a butcher knife.

It was quick thinking at it's finest. If only I could take clothing off that fast! (Parental advisory necessary.)

I chose dill, basil, cilantro, chile peppers, and parsley to start off. I wasn't sure what would grow well in doors, and for that fact, continue to thrive in doors. Today is Day 8, and everything but the parsley has grown. I think I planted it wrong, but we don't really use parsley anyway, so maybe it was a sign. My favorite cuties are the basil. I just want to pinch their cheeks. They're the third row from the bottom. 

 

Melissa has been super supportive for the past week. Whenever she gets home before I do, she sends me pictures of how much they've grown! It's kind of creepy having something alive, growing so quickly in our apartment. I keep thinking of Little Shop of Horrors. So until next week, this will be all you get to see of my herb garden. They're still very young and vulnerable so Icky is protecting them from Sandusky in my absence.