Not-so Minty Fresh

Oh, the days of growing my own fresh herbs on my sunny bay windowsill. I yearn for them.

Since I got back from the Wineries of Niagara on the Lake's Wine and Herb Festival, I've been itching to grow my own fresh herbs -- again.

See, I made my first foray herb gardening last summer. I grew mint (pictured), cilantro, and basil. The plants yielded plenty of mojitos (I even bought a muddler), pesto, and lots of disgusted looks from my boyfriend, who just hates cilantro. I loved being able to walk into my garden (or over to my windowsill) and have fresh herbs at the ready.

And then I moved into a basement apartment.


Almost a month ago, I relocated to Markham (near Toronto) to begin a 16-month internship at IBM. The move has its perks: better cashflow, great job, new adventures. But it has its drawbacks, too: I'm now in a long distance relationship (bummer), I'm a 5+ hour drive away from my family, and since basement apartments are the most economical option, I'm sacrificing a nice windowsill herb garden for some extra cash. Yes, not being able to grow my own herbs is that big of a concern for me.

So I have a few options: try to grow herbs anyway on the five-inch deep windowsill in my bedroom and likely fail miserably with the low sunlight, beg dear sweet boyfriend to let me grow herbs on his windowsill--and beg him to take care of them--or suck it up and buy fresh herbs. So far, I've been buying herbs, but with enough begging and a little flirting, I think I can convince him to do me the favour.

How about you? Are you growing your own herbs this year? If you haven't, what's stopping you? If you're considering growing them, it really is easy--especially if you buy plants, not seeds.