Herbs, Veggies and other things!!!

jovichick123

Hi all, :hello:

Just wondered if I can pick a few of your experienced 'old style' minds for a minute?

This is my first month of meal planning, shopping habit changing etc. and I have a newfound enthusiasm for all things homely. That in mind, I went into Homebase earlier today and bought myself some packets of herbs to grow on my kitchen windowsill (after reading on here that many people do this and it tastes better and saves money!). I have bought Basil, Coriander and Rosemary and plan to plant them tomorrow. Problem is, the only plant I have had in the past died within 6 months of being in my home (worst thing is, it was a cactus :eek: !!).... I am, needless to say, not the most greenfingered woman alive. :rolleyes: So I wondered if anyone has any advice to help me make my herbs thrive? How often do I have to water them? Also if anyone can advise how many to plant in the pots (they are quite small pots), that would be very helpful too!

My other question relates to vegetables! I have always bought my veggies from Asda/Tesco but I read some really horrid stuff the other day which put me off this, things about chemicals and shelf life etc.. So my question is that I am thinking of getting veggies delivered in future and found a site on the internet who deliver to the whole of the UK - West Country Organics - has anyone heard of them or could anyone recommend a good company for this - I live in Cheshire.

Last but certainly not least, I have a slow cooker at home. Unfortunately, whilst washing up one afternoon, my boyf dropped the top of the crock pot and broke it into three pieces.:eek: Can anyone recommend a decent, well priced slow cooker to buy?

I know I am asking a lot here but if anyone can be of help with any of the above queries, I will be eternally grateful!! :T

Thanks,

Sarah xx

Jayar

Re growing your own herbs, the best advice I can offer you is to get a book from your local library. There are loads of books with great advice for beginners.
Sorry I can't help out with the rest but no doubt someone else will be along soon.

Oh, just had a thought, didn't Argos have a Cookworks slow cooker on special offer a wee while ago. May be worth checking out.

overlykeensaver

not quite growing your own but it may help to get you started - I find basil quite hard to grow from seed, but if you buy a pot of basil from the supermarket, keep it on the windowsill sitting on a saucer and put water in the saucer every day, your basil plant will last for ages!

You can even prune it if the stems get too long so all the energy goes into making leaves instead of growth.

We have had some pots from the supermarket that have lasted for over a month which is good value. If you have picked most of the leaves, buy another pot and have two on the go, sort of on rotation.

Hope this helps!

angelavdavis

Why don't you see if anyone on freecycle has a slow cooker they no longer need?

DawnW

Or get in touch with the slow cooker manufacturer's customer services and see if you can just buy a new lid? I guess it depends on the brand, but definitely worth a try. I recently lost the measuring thingies belonging to my breadmaker, and these were replaced cheaply by first class post (Morphy Richards, their customer services were very good, but I have often had success replacing lost or broken parts with other companies too).

bigpaws23

jovichick123 wrote: »

I went into Homebase earlier today and bought myself some packets of herbs to grow on my kitchen windowsill (after reading on here that many people do this and it tastes better and saves money!). I have bought Basil, Coriander and Rosemary and plan to plant them tomorrow. <sniped>
How often do I have to water them? Also if anyone can advise how many to plant in the pots (they are quite small pots), that would be very helpful too!

Hi - it's a great move you are making; I;m sure we can turn your brown fingers green

I would plant 3 seeds per pot and when they grow, take out the weakest looking two and leave yourself the healthiest looking plant.
Grow about 10 pots of each, which means you can afford to have some losses.

The basil will probably be the fussiest. Once it grows, pinch out the tips (well, just use them in pesto) otherwise the plants will grow long and leggy - you want short and bushy. Let it dry out quite a bit between watering. Most herbs come from hot, dry climates, so don't overwater. And always water from the top - don't stand the pot in water. Interestingly, basil will scorch easily - so give it lots of light, but not too much direct sun.

Corriander I have never grown, but I would treat it as basil as a guess.

Rosemary is hardy. I would suggest you grow half of your pots outside, once the frosts have gone and you'll probably keep that going indefinately. It prefered alkaline soil, and again, don't water it much; it likes to be dry. You can leave rosemary to do its thing more or less.

If you like them, get yourself some mint (scrounge a cutting from a friend) and some sage - as these are virtually indesctructable. If you have any garden at all, put the sage and rosemary in the beds. Mint needs to be contained in a big bucket or it will take over.
Thyme and tarragon are pretty easy too.

Enjoy!

bigpaws x

jovichick123

Thanks for all the replys, I am going to dig out the slow cooker today and see what make it is, will try customer services then freecycle as suggested.

Thank you very much Bigpaws for all the advice, I am totally clueless when it comes to gardening things and a lot of it seems to go over my head but your advice made lots of sense - here's to a great future with my own potted herbs!!!

Thanks very muchly to everyone who answered,

Sarah xxx