tiny garden: june growth check.

June 11, 2015

tiny garden: june update | reading my tea leaves I can’t decide. Is writing a mid-June garden update the hobby gardener’s equivalent of sending around a holiday letter? Regaling weary family members with stories of your basil’s first shoot the way someone else might detail their first-grader’s loose tooth? If yes, then here’s hoping you guys fall in the camp of loving not loathing those letters. If no, well, carry on!

Truth is: it’s practically mid-June and I’m pleased as punch with my window sill garden, no matter how tiny it is. The herbs haven’t minded the part-shade a bit, the flowers are still blooming, and I was recently given two new clay pots to add to the mix.
tiny garden: june update | reading my tea leaves
We’ve been harvesting basil by the handful. (I might eat my words about that pesto after all.) Chives are getting snipped over all of our eggs, parsley’s getting chopped near-nightly, and oregano’s getting plucked and pinched and put on top of salads and sandwiches and anything else we can think of. Meanwhile the thyme is flowering away and making everything it touches look prettyβ€”in the kitchen and otherwise.

Lest you think I’m all green thumb, I’ll admit that I think I might have done better to plant the purple basil at the end of the box so that it wouldn’t get overshadowed by the gargantuan sweet basil flanking it, but it’s holding its own and I’ll get to harvest it soon enough.
tiny garden: june update | reading my tea leaves Chez the flowering planter that I potted back in April, the euphorbia is going gangbusters as predicted; it’s really my favorite little filler. The bacopa pops open new flowers on the daily and the variegated plectranthus has filled in beautifully without getting too leggy. There’s even been plenty of light for my little geranium.
tiny garden: june update | reading my tea leaves But here’s the problem with deciding to grow things on your window ledge: it only makes you want to grow more things on your window ledge. A few weeks ago, Faye and I were out for a little afternoon amble and we popped into GRDN. Their gravel-lined rear garden is one of my favorite spots in the neighborhood and I can’t ever manage to stroll past without taking a walk around.
tiny garden: june update | reading my tea leaves I scooped up a spearmint and a chocolate mint plant to add to my ledge. Mint is a spreader and a half even in a small space so I planned to pot each plant in a separate pot so that they wouldn’t choke out everything else. tiny garden: june update | reading my tea leaves I planted this year’s mint in two beautifully aged Earth Fired Clay Herb Pots given to me by Terrain. I used one of their medium herb pots and one small herb pot. I’ve been giving the new mints a little time to establish in their new homes, but I’m already envisioning a summer of mint iced tea and mojitos.
tiny garden: june update | reading my tea leaves What about you guys? What’s June looking like in your gardens? Or window boxes?

More tiny garden posts, HERE.

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16 Comments

  • Reply Jessica June 11, 2015 at 1:23 pm

    It's true that once you start growing, you don't want to stop. I've got 4 raised beds, an asparagus, strawberry and rhubarb patch, a bean tee-pee and a handful of containers going right now and I am already envisioning the extra beds I will build next year. We're just at the beginning of our growing season here in Vermont, but last night I harvested a ton of romaine, butter crunch lettuce, arugala, mesclun and swiss chard, and the first of the radishes!

  • Reply Traci June 11, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    WOW, look at that basil! I have no garden currently, but lusting after yours is okay for now!

  • Reply Ginny June 11, 2015 at 2:20 pm

    I'd love to hear about your harvesting practices for your mini garden. I too am a windowsill gardener (alas my sills are on the inside rather than out), and I'm always interested in how others sustain their herbs through the season. Do you go all out and take a bunch and then wait another month for it all to fill back in? Or do you just pinch of several leaves at a time?

  • Reply Anonymous June 11, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    I love this. We have a garden and growing herbs is great for cooking. I use terracotta pots which I don't love until they get a bit mossy and old looking. I've tried to grow chillis this year without much luck. My geraniums are blooming though.

    • Reply Erin June 11, 2015 at 4:38 pm

      I know it. I love how these guys came pre-aged!

    • Reply admin June 11, 2015 at 4:38 pm

      I know it. I love how these guys came pre-aged!

  • Reply Lizzie DeKraai June 11, 2015 at 4:35 pm

    I also have questions about harvesting – where should you snip from? How much is too much? Are woody stems okay or should they be removed? This is my first apartment with a porch so I went all out and planted tons of herbs but my parsley has gone from luscious and abundant to wilted and droopy in one day so I'm in search of some expert advice.

    • Reply Erin June 11, 2015 at 4:38 pm

      Good questions! I'll get to work on a little how-to!

    • Reply admin June 11, 2015 at 4:38 pm

      Good questions! I'll get to work on a little how-to!

  • Reply Polly Cat June 11, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    Plants add such a lot to a space and your herbs are practical too! I had two in my room at university (that I've just moved out of) but it was such a stuffy, dark room and they both died! I'm hoping my university house next year will be more sunny so I can get some more πŸ™‚ Lovely post x

    Polly Cat Contemplates

  • Reply thissunnyday June 11, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    This is my first year having a garden of my own (and not just being forced to weed my mom's). I have a colorful little windowsill herb garden that is surely growing back with every leaf we pluck. πŸ™‚ https://thissunnyday.wordpress.com/2015/06/01/windowsill-herb-garden/

    I also have a small raised bed garden for the first time, that has been growing like gangbusters! We should have tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and green beans in just a couple more weeks!!
    https://thissunnyday.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/mary-mary-quite-contrary-how-does-your-garden-grow/

    Not to mention my growing collection of houseplants and flowers dotted around the house. I think my husband may cut me off soon. πŸ™‚ I am jealous of your mint though! My lemon balm is having some browning issues that I've been monitoring for a few weeks. I've already cut it back once. If it doesn't improve I may do a little switcharoo and put mint in instead.

  • Reply Mary June 12, 2015 at 1:08 am

    I'm trying to convince myself to keep my garden commitment low this year… 31 weeks pregnant and about to move! But I couldn't resist a pot of lavender that's taken off like gangbusters. I'm curious to explore new floral options after we move (to a high altitude, short season, wild creature filled mountain area). Infants like to garden, right? πŸ™‚

    • Reply Erin June 12, 2015 at 1:19 am

      Ha! They *sometimes* forget to water, but they're very good at dead-heading! (Congrats!)

    • Reply admin June 12, 2015 at 1:19 am

      Ha! They *sometimes* forget to water, but they're very good at dead-heading! (Congrats!)

  • Reply thefolia June 12, 2015 at 7:01 am

    Succulents, definitely succulents that bloom beautiful hues.

  • Reply Nina June 12, 2015 at 12:03 pm

    First gardening blog post ever to make me feel like my 3x6ft community garden plot is positively enormous πŸ™‚ https://www.flickr.com/photos/toftsnummulite/18136422329/in/album-72157643319175295/

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