Basil Surprise

One of the disadvantages of living away from the main city is NOT having an easy access to things that you need (or should I say, want). And that's one burden I have as a (insert frugal here) home gardener. But thanks to Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf for creating one thing everybody can't live without nowadays - the Internet. And also, to those people who are considerate enough to share items (by selling) online and make them accessible to people like me.

So one of the herb plants I've been wanting to have at home is the delicious basil. This is because I love pesto! (craving right now)
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any from nurseries where I live. Therefore, my only way is to get them online. Of course, buying plants online is not possible (as generally, nobody can send them by mail), so my only option is buying the seeds.

In the beginning, I was a little bit skeptical of planting basil from seeds. I read from blogs after blogs of people failing to grow basil from seeds. I'm talking about amateurs like me btw. And they all advised to grow them from cutting instead. But, I'm half-hour away from where I can get them (genovese basil in particular). So yeah, I don't have a choice. Besides, that's my goal - to start my home (mini) garden from seeds.

After searching online and comparing prices, which is more important for me..hahaha, I finally found the one. And it is My Lestary Seeds. Well, I 'm not paid to promote the site or anything like that. I just wish to share my experience with them, and maybe give some good review to anyone who is thinking of getting seeds from them.

I bought several seeds and a mulberry cutting, which I'm gonna post my experience later on. And I received all the items, so if you're thinking about ordering from My Lestary Seeds, based on my experience, I'll give it a shot.

The seeds I bought (started to sow basil and chervil only).

They have a great variety of seeds, even the rare ones (for tropical areas like mine). They're available in affordable prices (in my opinion). I'm thinking of getting some later on, of course when I'm a better gardener than I am today. Hahaha

04 October 2014

Genovese basil seeds ready for sowing.

Just filled the container with soil, and sprinkled the seeds on top. Then, watered to set it.

07 October 2014

After 3 days, they sprouted. Yup. 3 days!!

09 October 2014

I don't know about you, but this is quite an achievement for me. Hahaha

I don't know whether it's the seeds, the soil, my green thumb (hahaha), or just pure luck from Mother Nature. But this is something for sure.

25 October 2014

This is more than I expected. I promise, I only sprinkled that amount of seeds in my hands

(see 2nd picture above).

As you can see, they are pretty close to each other. So I decided to transplant them. Please don't scold me if you think shouldn't have. I honestly feel so bad right now. I guess, you already know what happened.

So I happen to have a bunch of egg cartons, and learned that I can use them in my garden. Finally found a way to use them. And recycling them feels cleverly for a thrifty person like me. L0L

Transplanted them on 25 October 2014

Used the same soil as where they were sown before.

There are at least 60 seedlings. Wow! =)

Took about an hour just to transplant these babies.

But, here's the sad news, they all died after few days! (sob.. sob..)

Thankfully, I didn't transplant all to egg cartons. Others are in the same pot. And they all are living happily... based on how they look now btw.

Some that stayed in the same pot.

07 November 2014

This is how they look now. There's actually one that has died, but I believe that is because of the rain.

I placed them outside just to get to meet Mr. Early Morning Sun, but it rained during the night while I'm asleep. So, the next day.... still, thankfully most of them survived.

Anyone of you have basil plants at home? Did you also grow them from seeds? How about egg cartons, have you ever used them in gardening? Please share your experiences with me. I'd love to hear them! Till the next post.

Thanks for reading!

Happy gardening!