Now I warn you, I'm not a keen gardener. Even my best efforts end up dead eventually (sorry Aji!) and that's when I try really hard. But I'm told that growing herbs is ridiculously easy and that even I could do it... so in the spirit of being green in every aspect I'm trying to grow Basil. I use it a lot when making bolognese and I'm told it's the easiest of the lot. Here's my simple guide on how I've done it:
Take two meat trays (clean of course!) and make small holes in the bottom of one.
Pop the one with holes in into the one without and press them together so there's only a small gap at the bottom. Then fill the top one with compost - leaving about 1cm at the top. Next get a coke bottle (or fanta, tango sprite..) and chop the end off to create your own mini greenhouse. You might need more than one depending on the size of your pot, I used two for mine. Use the end to indent the soil so you can see how much space you have for the seeds.
Put the seeds in the little circles making sure you don't overcrowd them. I probably put too many in mine, but whatever! Add a thin layer of compost over the top of the seeds, approximately 0.5cm, then sprinkle them with water. Finally you just need to put the greenhouses in place and wait for them to grow! Don't forget to water them now and then though or nothing will happen. ;)
Have you ever tried growing something edible? How did it turn out? Or are you now going to try basil seeds with me? Let me know in the comments below. :)
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gardening is one of my passions. I used to find it boring when I was a kid because my mother would make me go out to all zillion of her vegetable or flower patches but now I garden for those memories. I remember I planted thumbelina carrots and radishes on my own when I was 17 and they were delicious! And herbs too...but now those are overtaking the fence. oops...sorry to my mother.
It's lovely that you keep your mother's memory close in that way. :) I'm much the same with upholding my great grandmothers superstitions. They sound so silly, but feeling close to her makes it worth it.
I find the planting bit really exciting and that lasts for the first few weeks, but once it wears off I find I just forget about the things I'm growing altogether. I had an Aji Lemon Drop Chilli Plant (affectionately known as Aji) and he lived for a few months - a record for me! But even the excitement of harvesting our first chillis wasn't enough to keep me interested and he too eventually perished. I'm hoping that using the Basil in my cooking when it's big enough will help me remember it and keep it alive. :)
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