My free herb garden

This is a cell-phone-camera shot of my mini-herb garden, all for free. Let me tell the story:

I had a few herb seeds started when I started my balcony garden- parsley, chives, basil- when a posting came on the local Freecycle for organic herb seeds. I responded quickly and was lucky enough to get to pick up the seeds AND a green (my favorite color!) pot to plant them in. The types I got were: sage, oregano, dill, and cilantro (coriander).

But where to plant these fine seeds? I decided the sage should go in the sage-colored pot... but, after that, my pots were all full with already-growing things. The solution? I found pseudo-planters that would do well for the herbs-- I used two very large mugs and an old butter container. My next dilemma was where to start the seeds. My apartment has no windows, just two big sliding-glass doors opening to covered balconies (one north- and one south-facing) that, as summer approaches, seem to get less direct light (because the sun is directly overhead, no longer at he same angle in the sky). At work, on the other hand, I have a 'grow light' of sorts- my desk has a shelf with a fluorescent light under it.

So, I had my plan. I brought them to work, then promptly had to leave for a long weekend for a funeral. I hoped the seeds would survive not being doted over in their early life. I returned to the above photo about a month ago. Everything had sprouted! For three weeks, the plants grew under the 'grow light', and just Friday I brought them home and put them outside to see real sunshine. They're growing well. Hopefully, we will have fresh herbs later in the season... now I just have to figure out what to cook with sage and dill...

Freecycle rocks!