Green Thumb: Mint

I am SO excited to start putting my green thumb to work here next month. March is the start of the planting season here and Rolf and I have been discussing a bigger garden than last year! Last year we planted at the beginning of July and it was pretty toasty out for the plants. A ton of green beans grew, 2 zuchinni squash, kale (in January) and some nasty tasting lettuce. This year, so far, we are going to be adding some different better tasting lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and some butternut squash.

But until our planting season starts, I've still been playing with my herbs indoors. I bought some mint a couple of weeks ago for a recipe and it ended up sitting in the fridge for too long. A lot of it went bad, but I went through and picked out the good pieces, chopped a little off of the stems, and stuck them in water. One of them started to form roots very quickly, but the rest it took a couple of weeks.

 I absolutely love mint. I love how bright green it is, and how fantastic it smells and tastes. Anything with mint and chocolate and I'm game! Another reason why I love mint so much is because every summer it blooms in the little turn around at my grandpa's house. Growing up I'd go over there before heading up to visit and pick a piece.

Mint is very invasive plant. So once I plant it in a pot, it will probably live on the porch so it doesn't take over the garden! :) 

Look at those roots!

Beach Day!

Rolf and I were supposed to meet up with a friend of his from college this weekend, but unfortunately it didn't work out. So instead we headed to the beach!!! We trusted our GPS and typed in to look for beach close to Charleston. Well it took us on a little run around. We ended up at a private beach residential area. We ate some delicious lunch and found out if we drove a few miles up the road there was a public beach right before another private residential area! It was such a beautiful day and I had a blast (as always) taking pictures of everything along the way!

 

We love the beach!!!

Indoor Herbs

     I just love it when I grow something! I don't know why, but it feels like a huge accomplishment! What I love even more than growing things, is when whatever is being grown can be put to a functional use. We got back from Christmas break and I was so excited because we didn't have anything on the horizon. First because we could actually live in our house together and second, so I could start my herb garden indoors!
    I ran into a bit of a dilemma because all of the gardening stores around here aren't ready to start the 2012 growing season. I really wanted lemon verbana, but that was no where to be found. Instead I found parsley. I did a little more searching and also found lemon basil. The pictures today are of the sprouting lemon basil in a lovely yellow pot (so I can remember what it is without labeling it!) :) I haven't decided what recipes I'm going to use this in once it's ready for eating, but I'm so excited!!!