Good gardening friend Paul Parent of the Paul Parent Garden Club (
www.paulparent.com) sends out a great newsletter every week with pertinent gardening topics. I encourage you to go to his website (
www.paulparent.com) to sign up for his newsletter. Paul can also be heard every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 10 AM at his website or at WBACH (104.7 FM) every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 9 AM.
Paul recently sent out a great article on Growing Herbs at Your Kitchen Window. Of course, it does not HAVE to be a KITCHEN window but a sunny kitchen window makes a convenient and easy place to grow some herbs. And what taste! Once you have had truly fresh herbs on your food it is hard to go back to the dried ground leaves in a bottle.
Herbs are easy to grow and maintain. Mary of Skillin's Falmouth does caution us that indoor herb gardens are not for show. They are little "working gardens" so that Rosemary here or Basil over there may be a little lopsided but that is great! It means you are putting Rosemary and Basil to work. And not to repeat myself! But the TASTE!
Here are some excerpts over what Paul had to say:
"Your local garden center has now received its new seeds for the spring. So get out of the house, brave the cold and select some herb seeds to grow in your kitchen. All you need are 4 inch plastic pots, fresh potting soil and a little love. Most herbs will germinate in 7 to 14 days if kept warm after planting. I start mine on top of the refrigerator because of the heat on top and because there are no cold drafts up there to cool the soil. Once they germinate, move them to the windowsill. If your windowsill is warm, you can start them right there! I also cover the pots with Press and Seal plastic until they germinate, as this keeps the moisture and humidity in the soil. Jiffy products also makes a small windowsill greenhouse, which is a solid container to hold the soil and a clear dome to hold the moisture in. Just transplant to pots when large enough or start seeds in a Jiffy 7 pellets for easy transplanting to pots.
Growing herbs from seed will change your outlook and your relationship with the plants. The flavor you grew did not come from a bottle; it came from your enjoyment of inviting mother nature into your home this winter to grow the plants. So get out the bottle of seasoning you use most and read what it contains for herbs--then grow your own ingredients. Just use a few seeds now and save the rest for the garden in the spring. The spring seedlings can be started later on during the winter. Those seedlings can be transplanted later right into the ground during May. The seeds you plant now are for use now.
If your time is short and you want instant results, we at Skillin's have some beautiful fresh herbs already growing for only $3.99 for a 4" pot! All you have to remember is to water as needed and feed every 2 weeks and pick often--but take time to smell the foliage. Bon Appétit!"
To read the entire article about Growing Herbs at a Kitchen Windowsill just click
Growing Herbs at Your Kitchen Window! at the Skillin's Garden Log. And we will be talking about indoor herb gardening as part of our Windowsill Gardening class on February 20 (see
"Mark Your Calendar" below!)
Last note about indoor herb gardens! We highly recommend the all natural Coast of Maine Bar Harbor Blend Potting Soil as THE BEST potting soil we know of. Your herbs will love this smartly composted soil and will reward you with BEST taste! Bar Harbor Blend is LOCALLY produced by fellow Maine gardeners. And because the soil is locally produced, shipping costs to us are less and that means we can pass the lower price to you--lower than all the brand name competition. Best soil? Check. Locally produced? Check. Lower price? Check. Win, win, win!
Keep an eye out for signs of houseplant pests like spider mites, mealybugs and scale insects. If tackled before they get out of hand, nonchemical methods are usually successful: a simple shower, insecticidal soap spray or all natural pesticidal spray oil or with the most tenacious (like mealybugs) sometimes the pesiticidal spray oil and Q-tip. Watering correctly is also very important. In general plants should be well watered in a sink or bath tub. For most plants I like to run water into the pot slowly from the tap and then let the water gush out of the bottom of the pot. Do this for several minutes and most plants will have had enough water. Let the water totally drip off from the bottom of the pot. Run that water SLOWLY--and turn the tap off for a couple of moments before the water spills over the top of the pot. Then let the soil go "good and dry to the touch" before you water again. This time of year that could take a while. Puzzled over whether a plant is dry? We sell reliable, easy to use and inexpensive moisture meters here at Skillin's; I highly recommend them.
Getting anxious to
start some seeds for the upcoming gardening season. It is still a little too early for many outside crops although around February 1 you could certainly start the gardening season off by starting some celery seeds. We urge you to check out
www.botanicalinterests.com for some great seeds to look at,
but save the shipping costs! Come to Skillin's for your seeds. We have a full line of Botanical Interest, Burpee, Hart and Livingston seeds. Many of our seed packets are organically certified.
Botanical Interests is my favorite seed line--the information on each packet and at their website is impressive, informative, inviting and interesting. Also for some "advance prep" check out
The ABC's of Seed Starting at the Skillin's Garden Log!
Remember this wet weather makes for wet bird food in the feeders! Our feathered friends like their food dry--the wet food will just stay in the feeder and get moldy and moldy food is not liked by the birds and it certainly is not good for them. So when you can, get out there and shake that wet food to the ground. Or pry it out with a screwdriver or butter knife! Easily done--and replace the food with some nice dry seed! Finally our top quality bird seed is STILL ON SALE at Skillin's! So come and get some!
Questions about any gardening topics? Email us at
skillins@maine.rr.com or contact us at any of the above phone numbers! Or stop by and see us!!
