Topic: herbs

Green Thumb Guide: How To Keep Your Basil Plants Alive

Green Thumb Guide: How To Keep Your Basil Plants Alive

Last week, I brought you basil recipes to help you take advantage of abundant summer crops. But many of our Facebook fans balked; basil is a tricky herb to grow. Unlike some herbs (I’m looking at you, rosemary), it’s easy to start from seed. But keeping it alive? Oof. Not so simple. I bought a tall, lovely basil plant about two weeks ago—you were right: this week, it’s dropping leaves faster than the temperature is rising, and what’s left is quickly becoming flecked with holes and brown spots. So what gives? I asked gardening guru Kimberly Sevilla (co-owner of Brooklyn’s Rose Red & Lavender floral and garden shop) for advice. More »

Green Thumb Guide: What to Plant in August (Indoors or Out)

Green Thumb Guide: What to Plant in August (Indoors or Out)

We may be hitting the home-stretch of summer, but it’s not too late to get some herb and vegetable plants growing, indoors or out. In fact, August is a particularly good time to sow seeds for fall harvest.

According to Colleen Vanderlinden, author of Edible Gardening for the Midwest, the following plants can be started now (for fall harvest) in most climates: Arugula, beets, beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, collard greens, kale, lettuce, leeks, radishes, spinach and winter squash. You can direct-sow these vegetable seeds (plant them directly in an outdoor garden), or start seeds indoors for transplanting to a garden (be it in your yard or on your fire escape, porch, rooftop—even a sunny windowsill) after they sprout. More »

Steer Clear of Pesticides; Grow Your Own Cilantro

Steer Clear of Pesticides; Grow Your Own Cilantro

“I grow cilantro on my deck,” he said. “If someone is really concerned, they can do that to.”

That’s Chris Pappas, a chemist who oversees the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s pesticide testing, in this Chicago Tribune article. A recently released report from the USDA says the agency found 34 unapproved pesticides on random samples of cilantro it tested. Out of all cilantro tested, 44 percent had residues of at least one unapproved pesticide (this compared to just five percent of spinach samples and two percent of apples). More »