Jumpstarting My Garden: On Seed-Starting Inside

Last year was my first year trying seed-starting inside. While it was not a slam dunk, I found that for some of my veggies, it resulted in stronger, higher-yielding plants. It's also more cost-effective than buying veggie starts.

This year, I've started multiple varieties of lettuce, jalapeno and Serrano peppers, tomatoes (primarily San Marzano), kale, and herbs including cilantro, parsley and basil.

Eggs with Fresh Parsley, Monterey Jack & Ham = Delicious

Fresh Italian Parsley, ready to chop and add
to my eggs.

One of my new favorite ways to cook eggs on the weekends is with fresh parsley.

Yesterday I snipped a couple sprigs of parsley from my deck, chopped it up and threw it in with scrambled eggs. I also added cubed monterey jack cheese and chopped deli ham. I seasoned the eggs with Lawry's Seasoned Salt.

Delicious!

I love fresh herbs. In fact, I'm planning to go out today and purchase a few more to fill in the empty slots on my deck.

As a related tip, I saw an episode of America's Test Kitchen where they made the "perfect" scrambled eggs. I have not followed their recipe perfectly, but their approach - cooked on lower temps, slowly, constantly moving the eggs around the pan - results in a delicious, fluffy and moist breakfast!

Purplish Spots Mean My Basil Has Burned ... I Think

I was thinking that the purplish spots on my sweet basil were actually just how my basil was supposed to look. I planted the basil in my garden, between my two types of tomatoes. If what I'm finding on the Internet is true, I may have planted the seedling too quickly before hardening it off.

I harvested a pile of leaves today from the plant, so I'm hoping that the two tomato plants it's near will grow and shade it sufficiently to protect the basil going forward.

Other than what appears to be burned leaves, the plant is growing well, much better and faster than the basil growing in a container on my deck. It gets full sun for much of the day, which basil is supposed to love, and sufficient water. I'll be watching it to see how it does!

Four Herbs in One Planter

This weekend I planted my deck herbs – I put four plants in one rail planter. I followed a similar setup to when I planted my mesclun mix a couple of weeks ago. I love the idea of being able to fill my deck with edible color.

Last year I had a hard time with herbs. My basil did well, but everything else kind of petered out by the end of the summer. Looking forward to a much more robust season this year. I chose: two basil plants, oregano and parsley. In all the reading I did online, it's best to keep herbs that are grown in similar conditions together when you plant them all in the same container. I also love the idea of having a themed container - all herbs you can use in the same or related dishes!

I especially love later in the summer when I have fresh tomatoes and fresh basil. I stack them for an easy appetizer while we're grilling. Yum!

Here's how I planted my four plants in the deck rail planter this year: 

Deck planter, with rocks at the bottom to help with drainage.