The First Harvest

The basil plant that I bought when it was only four inches has far outgrown the planter I originally planted it in. I separated it into two pots and it has grown to be a foot and a half. I'm a beginner basil farmer, and so I just discovered that you wanna harvest the basil before it gets blossoms on it to maintain the best flavor. Unfortunately, I learned this after the basil plants already had blossoms. Oh well. They still smell divine. The blossoms themselves smell a lot like cloves to me. Our first harvest is shown above.

The tomato plant I bought has also far outgrown the planter. It now resides in a 24" pot. I put a dowel along side the plant for support and started marking how tall it was each week. The plant averages an inch a day!! Can you believe that?? It was originally about 10" tall and is now at least three and a half feet. So far we only have 3 tomatoes growing. A lot of the blossoms have fallen off before a tomato had a chance to grow. Julia, having worked at a gardening store, informed me there is a "Blossom Drop Stopper". I'll have to look into that.

The basil plants I started from seed are growing like weeds!!! I have since separated them from their clusters. They're probably still too close together, but we'll see. The tarragon fell captive to Lucy, and the oregano just doesn't like the soil I planted it in. I only have two oregano plants growing and they are only an inch tall. The rosemary never dared to show its' face. Anyway, it's been an adventure, and I've learned a lot about plants...well, basil and tomato at least.