7.07.2011

Urban Herb Gardens

When we moved to Manhattan from Queens in March, we had to give up our lovely balcony.  Aside from sunbathing and dancing on it, I also grew herbs in planters.  Now, I'm not a big outdoorsy gal and I'm perfectly happy living in a concrete jungle, thank you...but, nevertheless, growing herbs just made me feel in touch with something simpler and sweeter, you know?

I told you all about my garlic chives before but, for those of you who don't know the story, it involved me transplanting the chives in my pajamas, barefoot, at midnight before Moving Day because I just had to take them with me (this is the third year that they've grown back...the same plant).  Well, the chives have thrived in our living room window and I've been enjoying them immensely.
 

 So I decided to take it a step further.  A couple of weeks ago, we were at the Union Square Greenmarket and the Oak Grove Plantation stand had herbs galore on display - Bug and I couldn't stop sticking our noses into all the plants.  I felt sad about our lack of a balcony until I saw this:



Hmm...I asked Adam, "Do you think we can just put these on the radiator in front of our living room window?"  And being the adventurous guy he is, Adam said, "Well, we won't know until we've tried."

So here's what I loooove about these herb planters: you can order them with any combination of four herbs that you want.  It cost me $22...which isn't cheap.  But I was able to fill it out with what I wanted: lemon thyme, rosemary, and a double order of sweet basil.  Do you have any idea how much this saves me in the long run????  When I buy cut herbs at the market, it'll cost me anywhere from $3-$5 per bunch.  And what if I need a bunch of rosemary and a bunch of basil?  That can easily cost me almost $10.  For only one week of herbs!  Believe me, this planter will pay me back in dividends by the time this summer is over.  Not to mention that they look positively lovely in my window:



And we loved them so much and it went so well that Bug bought herself a French lavender plant last weekend (with her own allowance - there's hope for the girl yet!):


Eat, drink, and don't let a lack of outdoor space stop you!

4 comments:

jerseyfern said...

You've given me hope and inspiration -- and a way to make my windowsill garden a little less unsightly. I'm not sure what I'll do when winter comes -- copper trays with pebbles and water? -- but I'm heading for Union Square today.

Lynne Cattafi said...

So lovely, Laura. I have basil, sage and rosemary growing in containers on my fire escape -- highly illegal, I'm sure, but I can't help it! I made pasta last night and used some of the basil. There's nothing like it.

Unknown said...

Is it really illegal, Lynne, to grow herbs on your fire escape in NYC? Hmmm, I had no idea! And I feel like I see fire escape gardens/plants all the time. But if it's wrong to grow herbs on your fire escape, then I don't want to be right!

Jerseyfern (I can't tell - is that you, Elise?), how did it go??? Did you get the herbs? Even if you didn't go to Union Square, I'm sure there's all kinds of UWS markets that might have something similar. And in a pinch, Fairway on 70-something on the UWS has some of the best stalks (HUGE stalks!) of basil I've ever encountered.

Amanda said...

Oh lovely!! I've been wanting to do a herb garden!