[Jayde]

I'm planting more basil, rosemary, and green onions tomorrow morning. The perilla plants are taking over part of the yard. YUM.

[mandalinn82]

Another apartment dweller limited to a container garden - but my apartment manager LOVES me, as my little area outside my door is basically blooming over, and she says that it always makes prospective renters take a second look. I'm limited though, and considering renting a space at a community garden...I'm not sure how motivated I'll be to drive across town to garden, though.

In my little containers, my herbs that I repotted seem to have all taken (nothing dying yet...hooray) so I should be rolling in chives, thyme, thai basil (if this doesn't die, it will be the first time. I am a seasoned basil-murderer), sage, and rosemary in a few months. The mint, of course, has taken over its entire pot, leaving me with very few options but a mojito party (bad) or tons and tons and tons of mint tea. On that note - anyone know anything about drying mint for later use? Not that I'm in any danger of running out at this point.

In winter we successfully had European mixed lettuces, spinach, and baby spring onions (we're in California, its mild but wet, and all of the veggies loved it). For summer, I'm trying my hand at growing bell peppers.

I'm not following Mediterranean, at least not officially, but find myself binding to a lot of the principles anyway, and couldn't miss the chance to drop in and discuss gardening.

[Mummy_Tummy]

Mandalinn, you can harvest the mint and tie it at the stem in loose bundles. Not too loose because as the stems dry, they will shrivel a bit. Hang them in a dark but dry place, or at least out of direct sunlight. That works for all herbs. But my favorite way to preserve mint (because mint is one herb that loses flavor when it's dried) is to clean it and then freeze it in ice cube trays. Then, when you want ice tea or even lemonade, you just toss a minty ice cube into your drink. It's wonderful! My favorite variety is chocolate peppermint. It smells like heaven but it is also a much prettier plant than every day mint, so aesthetically, it contributes more to a small container garden.

Now I need to go and harvest my mint and lemon balm!

[Jayde]

Mandalinn, I usually rinse off my mint plant, go back a bit later when it is dry and pick sprigs off. Then I just place them inside the cool house on a paper towel or bag. When they are very dry days later I pick the leaves off and store in a paper bag placed in a tin.

I know many people hang them.. sometimes I do but mostly I don't find it necessary or worth the extra trouble. Just make sure the leaves are not wet before you pick them.

These little tins make great presents too. To me it was nothing special but several friends have requested more.

You don't need an excuse to drop by Mediterranean. The door is always open and there is almost always a pot of soup or sauce cooking on the stove.

Jayde