It has been a while since I wrote something. Mainly, conducting my research and writing my thesis are the culprits, however, I’ve been meaning to write something about my newest hobby, gardening.

Last autumn, I decided I wanted to grow some herbs. Just some coriander, thyme and basil, in a homemade greenhouse. I could go into details, but to save some time, let’s just say it was no success. So, when spring came, I decided to try again, this time with a little better understanding of what not to do: Gardening tip #1. Do not use the cheapest potting soil you can buy at the local grocery store, it most likely contains plant material that has not completely decomposed. As such, adding water, and placing it in a warm spot may (which happened to me) promote larvae growth. Those little buggers were particularly attracted to the newly sprouted roots of the seedlings. Attempt number 2 was therefore not a huge success either…

So, attempt number 3. Went to local gardening shop, picked up some 50kg of potting soil, and a baggy of seed mix soil. Additionally, growing from seed takes a while, so I also decided to buy me a few bell pepper and red pepper plants, a bay leaf  ‘tree’, an olive tree, and a tomato plant. The first 6 images were taken on June 6, the latter ones 20 days later…

I especially like how the thyme and the coriander has exploded. Additionally, sowing thyme directly outside in potting soil seems to be a bad thing. Of all the seeds I sowed, only a handful actually sprouted… I therefore tried it once more indoors. Coriander on the other hand was no problem, it’s sow, wait a week, watch it grow for a couple of days, and then start and keep harvesting to delay flowering (I was not as persistent with the harvesting, hence it has started flowering already).

As for the bay leaf, it’s a slow growing tree (as far as I can see at least). It will be a while before I dare harvesting leafs on a regular basis. The olive and citrus will probably not set any fruit until years later, but that’s ok, I want them to grow into nice large healthy trees anyway. The tomatoes, well, a couple of them at least should be ready for harvesting soon.

I really love to watch this stuff grow, and such a small balcony based ‘garden’ doesn’t take too much of my time either. The best part however, was about two weeks ago, when I harvested some coriander and used it in a curry I quite frequently make. This curry is based on Jamie Oliver’s vegetable jalfrezi. I make it non-vegetarian by adding chicken fillet, and leaving out some of the vegetables, such as the cauliflower. It’s a very nice dish, doesn’t take too much work to make either (it’s best to prepare the curry in the morning/afternoon, and let it cool down during the day, ensuring a better blending of the tastes). However, when I added the homegrown coriander, it turned into something completely different, as the fresh coriander has an incredibly strong scent and taste. Honestly, I can not wait to try out the other herbs/fruits/vegetables growing right now, to see if those have the same taste enhancing properties.