I finally got busy on some projects this weekend.
First up: priming my display cabinet. This was tricky business – a puzzle of sorts. Lots of cutting in corners, painting ceilings then sides then bottoms.
Two hours later, it looked like this:
Now on to the much harder task of deciding finish colors! More on this project in a month or so…
Next up: Dealing with my brown thumb and our never-ending need for cilantro. One of my 101 list items was to start an herb garden. What better herb than the one we use the most, cilantro! I bought a couple of plants, invested in some good quality potting soil and got them started.
Here’s the million dollar question: how will the cilantro plants meet their end?
- Shannah’s brown thumb
- The Hayley’s demand for cilantro when cooking
- Bridget’s love of all green and growing things?
Sheryl has had an herb garden for years. Maybe she'll have some advice.
I'd suggest having the plants outside during the growing season. They'd probably thrive almost year 'round in your part of the country.
Here when the growing season is almost over we pot up a plant or two, bring them inside, keep them near a cool, sunny window (ours go in the basement with a grow light to augment the light 12 hours a day). We brought in parsley and basil last October and they grew well (watered every three days) until March, when for some reason both became infected with white flies and that was the end of the plants.
We don't eat so much cilantro but it's similar in its growth habits to parsley.
If you leave them inside, I'm betting on a combination of 2 and 3.
How would you recommend picking? I tend to use a half bunch at a time. Do I simply clip what I need? Will it grow back quickly? How full should I let the plant grow before starting to harvest?
You clip what you need. You'll want the plant to be fairly robust before you start cutting–it usually stays pretty puny in the house. I wouldn't cut more than 70 – 80% at a time. Cutting it will cause more to grow, but you may want to use more before the new growth is available. By continually cutting it you'll prevent it from flowering and going to seed, and that's a good thing. It grows back fairly quickly but not overnight.
I vote for option #4: legacy of the red pot of DOOOOM.
That pot does have a certain reputation!!
Thank you for the tips!! I'm going to move the cilantro outside after this week's predicted wind/rain storms roll through and see how they do.