Written by Robbie Ferguson, on May 22, 2010

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If you follow me on Twitter, you may or may not remember when Bekah, the kids and myself planted our seeds on March 27.  I decided to do my herbs from seed this year, because year after year, I find the stores just don't carry all the grown herbs that I want, plus it's usually fairly late when they are finally available.

I had tried store-bought plants in past years, but they usually don't do too well.  It could be the soil, the seeds, or maybe the people at the store just don't give the young plants the same care I do, so they often end up wilting and dying, or you spend the whole summer fighting to keep the herbs healthy.

This year, I picked up some "mini greenhouses", as we affectionately named them (the plastic kits that have six little soil pockets and a clear plastic lid), and bought a handful of organic seeds.

To make it fun for the kids, and to save us some cash when Bekah was ready to plant some flowers, I also got some flora seeds (a great assortment), and the kids planted those in their mini greenhouses and have watched them grow into vibrant greenery.  They have yet to flower, but it's still early, and they're young plants.

I took Tali to a thrift shop which uses the money they raise to buy Bibles for Missionaries.  Ironically, that's kinda like the name of the store!  "Bibles for Missions".  I guess they don't want you to be unclear about where your money is going - haha!  So, in that store, they had a great assortment of wicker and wooven baskets, and I grabbed perhaps a half-dozen of them to do some transplanting.  The bill came to something like $2.30, and I felt a little like... you know... how many Bibles am I really helping buy here?  But alas, it was a great bargain, and we'll support the mission in other ways.

Some fresh, healthy soil, basket liners, and a green thumb later, my herbs were transplanted into a sharp looking basket in our kitchen window.  The greenery adorning the breakfast table is really something to behold.

Here's to a magnificent summer with fresh ingredients.  What I can't grow myself, I'll get from local, ethical farmers.  Our organic beef farmer in Lyndsey, Ontario is fattening up our summer barbecue meat at this very moment, and I'm looking forward to some good, farm fresh eats all summer long.

Another thing I'm excited about is doing the bi-weekly farm tour (with stops at yard sales along the way).  From free range chicken to farm fresh free range eggs, honey, maple syrup, produce and more, Simcoe County really is a magnificent place to live for the health conscious, ethical eater.

And boy, oh boy, my sweet basil leaves are going to make some lovely fresh pasta sauces this summer.  With local, vine-ripe organic tomatoes, of course.

Published in : Robbie's Blog, My Blog