The Makings of a Simon & Garfunkel Song

So one of my Green goals this year was to get a garden going. This is something of a challenge for me, though, and not because I live in an apartment building downtown. My problem stems from the fact that apparently I did not inherit my dad's green thumb. In fact, my apartment is the place where plants go to die. And it's not that I'm neglectful. I do all the appropriate things... water, provide sunlight, etc... but somehow my plants slowly wither away while I watch in dismay. I have seriously considered just throwing in the towel and buying plastic plants which only need a good dusting every once in awhile. But nothing compares to having real plants in a home.

Which brings me back to my dilemma of starting a garden. Not having enough space outside, I've decided to take advantage of my two south-facing windows which receive tons of sunshine and have fairly broad windowsills. My cat Dudley loves to sit in the windows while pretending to be King of All He Surveys, but he'll just have to learn to share (memo to self... google which plants are poisonous for curious cats to nibble).

Knowing my limitations, I've decided to attempt two small gardening projects, an herb garden and container gardening for vegetables. Project Herb Garden began today.

The Charleston Horticultural Society held its annual Plantasia plant sale over at the Galliard this morning so I hoofed it on over to check out the selection. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted and soon found a table of nothing but herbs. There were three different kinds of basil, two types of lavender, sage, rosemary, lemon verbena, mint, oregano, various versions of thyme and a host of other herbs. It took less than thirty seconds for me to be totally overwhelmed until one of the docents helpfully pointed out which ones would work best with my conditions... indoors, south-facing window, proven tract-record as a killer of plants.

With her assistance, this is what I picked out today- oregano, sweet basil, French thyme, "blue lady" rosemary, cilantro and lavender. All of these herbs need plenty of sunshine and regular watering. I was advised to re-pot them in slightly bigger containers at some point.

My haul today cost $24, but, with luck, these plants will continue to grow and provide me with lots of fresh herbs for many future meals.

That is, if I don't kill them first. I'll keep you posted.