Turn Your Black Thumb Green

Ok, I’m determined. I can and I will turn my black thumb green.

I adore flowers, especially orchids, but can’t seem to keep anything alive more than a few days. Even hardy plants seem to wilt in my presence (I killed bamboo for goodness sakes! Who kills bamboo?!) but with my mind set, I know I can accomplish anything so here we go.

The girls would love a vegetable garden but considering my past history and after doing some research, it seems herbs are a better place to start. I went to my local nursery (farmers’ markets are also a good choice) and picked up organic potting soil, three beautiful pots that fit perfectly on my windowsill, and some seeds. I will give updates if anyone’s interested and would love to hear any tips from my fellow gardeners. With any luck, I’ll have some fresh herbs to add to my fall meals. Listed below are the basics to get started in case anyone is a novice like me.

Source: http://www.oprah.com/food/The-Urban-Herbalist#ixzz1TGZkgTt5

  • Light: Herbs love the sun, so choose a spot with plenty of it. Southern exposure is ideal, but any bright window with four hours of direct sun will do.
  • Containers: Pot especially pungent herbs like cilantro, mint, basil, and lavender individually, so their roots don’t overwhelm one another. Try planting other varieties together in a single hanging basket or a long ceramic trough. Choose containers with holes in the bottom for drainage.
  • Soil: Fill the pot with potting soil, which is lightweight and drains quickly.
  • Water: Allow the soil to become dry before watering. Pay attention to shifts in temperature—consider air-conditioning, radiator heat, and seasonal variation in sunshine—and adjust your watering schedule accordingly (anywhere from once a week to once a day during hot spells).
xo,
Tanya

 

One thought on “Turn Your Black Thumb Green

  1. Pingback: If you only do one thing this week…revel in the beauty and wonder of spring « If you only do one thing this week…

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s