Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Botanical Experiment

The great experiment did not work. I guess you could say it was a failure. The pot of basil that I put out on the patio has died. The other herbs that I put out at the same time are thriving. I discovered that the pot that I kept in the house had some tiny flies flying around, so that one is now outside.

I've been having terrible luck with basil over the last two years. I have one plant from three years ago that, while not thriving, is still alive even though it has only a few leaves. But, I will not be discouraged. I love to put basil in my pasta sauce, salads and pesto so yesterday I bought about four new plants, along with a lot of other herbs.

When I finished my shopping yesterday I just didn't feel like transplanting them even though they were very dry, so I put them in the bathtub with about an inch of water. I'll take care of them on Monday and will probably put some more outside.

It was so nice tonight when I made my salad. I added some freshly chopped parsley and a few of the remaining leaves on the very old basil plant. I hope I get a good crop from these new plants.

2 comments:

threecollie said...

Basil is so hard. It is susceptible to every pest there is! Good luck with it.

ms/sss said...

Basil has been hard to come by, even at the Farmers' Market in CA. Trader Joe's had some many months ago, but insects were all over them. I'm sure that the store moved them out fast. What I'm doing is using a very freshly dated jar of dried basil. After throwing my old jar away, this fresh one is rather good tasting.
ms/sss