Parlor Herb Garden

 

I ordered seeds online.  I've never done that before, at least for myself.  I've done it as gifts.  Three garden shops later, I figured the only way to get what I wanted was to have it come to me.

I mean, seriously, it would have cost me more than the shipping fee in gas to go to the ONE Armstrong in the L.A. basin that had celery seeds.  So as long as I was getting those, I ordered some herbs.  Ferry-Morse isn't my favorite seed merchant, but they had what I wanted.  And I'm not growing for the whole neighborhood, just my own use, so even a 25% germination rate would be more than I needed.

I have two decorative shelves in the front parlor and a houseplant I never wanted underneath so I don't accidentally bump into them.  The wall gets plenty of morning sun, but the room doesn't really get hot.  I don't know why it never occurred to me before to put my herbs in there.

I already had seeds for chives, parsley, cilantro, English thyme, and Mexican tarragon.  I ordered sage.  I was going to order oregano, until I found out it's part of the mint family.  Cats will nibble on anything even remotely related to catnip, so there was no way I was putting that on the floor.

Ferry-Morse didn't have lacinato (dinosaur) kale.  Neither did MIgardener or two of the other seed shops I searched.  Ferry-Morse did have lacinato kale as a microgreen.  I'm going to see if it will grow a full-sized kale if you let it go.  If not, I can still grow it as a garnish.  Ferry-Morse did finally explain why I can't find French tarragon seeds; they aren't seeds, they are propagated from plant stems.  I might buy some at the grocery store and try to root it.

There was a slight snafu when the sage packet arrived empty.  I wasn’t mad, because these things happen and I had ordered two months before it would be time to plant.  They shipped a replacement the same day I sent what I hope was a pleasantly worded email, and sent an apology from a real person.  Then, when I opened the package, it was someone else's order.  Her address was on the invoice, so I mailed it off to her in Texas for far less than she had paid in shipping costs.  She returned the favor a week later.  Not the seed swap you usually hear about, but we both got what we paid for.

When I have herb pots outside, I don't care what they look like.  For inside, I bought matching 6" pots.  Cheap, but matching.  Some of the seed packets recommend 12", but I'm intentionally stunting their growth by using a smaller pot.  Seriously, one person.  I never finished the basil I dried last year, but hung up more to dry anyway.  I bought a couple of inexpensive shoe racks when the plant stands I saw were too tall.  I'm a huge fan of using shoe racks for things other than shoes.  They're cheap and easily fit in small spaces.

It finally cooled off enough to plant.  Herbs need temperatures consistently below 80º, or they try to go to flower.  While I was at it, I planted my lettuces, fennel, and radish outside.  I did start some celery in the seed-starting tray because you can do that up to three months before you plan to move it outside.  Parsley and kale can also be picky about their starting soil, so I put some of them in the seed tray too.  The herbs should start coming up any day now, probably starting with the cilantro.  That's good, because there wasn't any in the market last time I looked.  Random shortages of groceries are back.