How Does His Garden Grow?: Summer Gardening 2009 - Week 2

So, last week I blogged about the beginning of my garden and how my new foray into horticulture ensued. Last week was filled with optimal growing conditions - lots of sun by day, lots of rain by night - so my garden got off to a GREAT start! It seemed like the size of some of my plants doubled overnight!

Here's what my garden looks like now:

Notice I have an extra pot out and three new plants! First, let's check on the status of last week's plants!

This is my Thai basil! I picked some leaves of this one yesterday to add to a pasta dish I made (maybe I'll post the recipe in the next day or so) and loved the slightly spicy flavor that it lends to the food I cook with it! I look forward to using this herb even more in the days/weeks to come!

This is my purple ruffles basil, which I also used in the pasta dish I made yesterday. It's fragrance is just fantastic and it has a much different, but equally tasty flavor to the Thai basil. Of all the plants from last week, this one has shown the most progress so far! And, after seeing how tasty it is, I couldn't be happier!

My fernleaf dill - I've not used any of this yet, mainly because I read online that it has a 'shelf-life' once you start harvesting it. So, in order to get the most out of my dill, I'm gonna try to just grow it for as long as I can. We'll see how that works out!

This is my Cherokee purple heirloom tomato plant. It's gotten a lot bigger over the past week and I think it'll be ready to start growing fruit in the next couple of weeks. Right now, I have it in a pot by itself, but I think it might need some more room for growth. I need to talk to my roommate about possibly making some garden space for it somewhere the backyard. That'll free up some room in this pot for more herbs!

My orange Thai chiles. This little guy has also done a good deal of growing in the last week. He's gotten a bit taller and grown a lot more leaves. I'm thinking about how to do a "Thai BBQ Sauce" using these and my Thai basil. It'll be a spicy sauce like you might get on hot wings. I look forward to concocting that formula in my head and trying to create it!

And now for the new additions!

Ah, fresh rosemary! As fragrant as it is flavorful, nothing beats this herb when it comes to Italian cuisine, poultry rubs, or just a sprig of something that smells good! I used some of this herb in my Herb-Crusted Grilled Chicken with Goat Cheese (from my recipe on Wednesday), but now that I'm able to grow my own, I'll likely be using it A LOT more!

Fresh parsley is an incredibly versatile herb and, for that reason, I felt I would be remiss not to include some in my garden! I love this herb chopped on top of pasta or pizza... and, as pasta is so easy to prepare, not having access to parsley seemed like a foolish endeavor for me!

Before I left the Farmer's Market today, I had to visit my favorite salesgirls who sold the heirloom tomatoes and make another purchase from them! This week, they talked me into this Green Zebra heirloom tomato plant. Apparently, this one has a more tart flavor than most tomatoes and will likely start producing fairly early. Yes, that means I'll be enjoying tomatoes earlier than you! :) Right now, it's in a fairly small pot that I had lying around. This week (probably Monday), I'll likely head over to Lowe's and pick up another big terra cotta pot (like I have the rest of my garden in) to house this tomato plant. (I'll probably also pick up a couple more herbs, so stay tuned!)