are you still looking for photos of girls in glasses? i rarely wear mine outside, but someone reminded me that you were asking...

i was just thinking i want to start growing my own herbs on my balcony. i am interested in growing scallions, cilantro, and parsley since i use them in my cooking a lot. but from i read you have to keep resowing and harvesting.

let me know how yours goes.

as someone who is also gardening organically, i gotta say: NO pesticides? 'cause you may be in for a world of lions once you bring yr babies inside. i feel bad for killing 'em, but when tiny little flies started infesting my plants, i put 1 tsp of dr. bronner's castille soap & 1 tsp of cayenne in a 16 oz spray bottle and drenched my affected herbs & veg with it. no problems ever since! nary a nibble. and all au naturale.

highly recommended: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/organic/
i am officially obsessed. tons of tips & tricks.

btw, rosemary & mint grow like crazy so prepare to have lots on yr hands later in the growing season. mmmm, teas & soaps with fresh herbs...

damn, this took me like 10 minutes to type one-handed! heh.

good luck. love love.

i just looked it up on drugstore.com and there are a million different kinds: http://www.drugstore.com/search/search.asp?searchtype=1&trx=28198&trxp1=1002&ipp=20&srchtree=1&search=castile+soap&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

which one should i buy? i numbered them to save you typing. pick a number! hopefully i can go to whole foods and pick some up ASAP!

1) 18-in-1 Pure-Castile Soap, Hemp-Peppermint
2) 18-in-1 Pure-Castile Soap, Hemp Almond
3) 18-in-1 Hemp Pure-Castile Soap, Peppermint
4) 18-in-1 Hemp Pure-Castile Soap, Lavender
5) 18-in-1 Hemp Pure-Castile Soap, Unscented Baby-Mild
6) 18-in-1 Hemp Pure-Castile Soap, Tea Tree

i should have pointed out that i don't mind natural remedies, but i don't want any chemicals on my babies. i mixed cayenne pepper in when i watered them last night and before i had left on vacation i sprinkled hot sauce on one of my plants as an experiment. i just don't want them chomping! the thing i am most worried about is the tiny tiny bugs which i'm still not sure about. CURSES.

xoxoxo,
leigh

i'd go #3 or #5... peppermint is an insect repellent but if you don't like the smell then go for unscented (or whichever smell you like). the soap is just there to make the cayenne stick to the leaves, but using dish detergent (like dove or whatever) would be *too* sticky & chemical-y whereas dr. bronner's is very mild & all natural.

i just discovered spider mites feasting on my heirloom peppers... ergghjfgkjhk. so gross. so it'll be time for a bath for those leaves after work.

neem oil is another popular natural, often organic insecticide, though it smells pretty gross.. it will only kill whatever is snacking on yr plants 'cause it has to be ingested off the plant leaves to have any effect on buggles (whereas a lot of other insecticides are broad spectrum & kill good & bad bugs). diatomaceous earth sprinkled on the soil if nothing else works.

the tiny tiny bugs (aphids, maybe?) are indeed the worst because i can't tell if they're good or bad. i just know that there's a lot of them and it's gross.

<3!

okay i just bought some of the peppermint since it can't hurt, right? i just don't know when i'll have time to go to whole foods or trader joe's. i still need to go to home depot to buy some pots for those new herbs i got last week. yarg.

yeah, the teeny tiny bugs i think a friend of a friend is going to come over and tell me what she thinks they are. i kind of thing they may be aphids but then why are they ONLY on the soil? no idea. yarf.

i might be coming to chicago this weekend to see cracker, so let me know if you ever need any gardening stuff... i'm practically drowning in it! dirt, fert, pots, soap, etc.
i can also split some of my herbs if you would like some herblets later this season... i'm growing a window box for teas (lemongrass, lemon verbena, lemon balm, sage, pineapple sage, lavender & spearmint plus parsley & oregano in separate pots). there are like 2 dozen fruit & veg plants (2 bell pepper, 1 jalepeno, 3 heirloom hot pepper, 1 thai pepper, 3 pickling cucumber, 3 watermelon, 2 cherry tomato, 3 regular tomato, 3 strawberry) plus around a dozen herbs & then another 2 dozen perennial flowers in our tiny-ass yard. august should be interesting! i may start leaving jars of pickles & homemade pasta sauce on yr doorstep. :)

good luck on eliminating yr pests & congrats on bringing home hoggle! tooooooo cute.

dude, if you ARE, you could be the first houseguest (if you want).

the ladies at sprout home recommended that i get 12 inch terra cotta pots for the cilantro and rosemary (i've heard they take over), but i think the mint can stay in a smaller pot. you have any idea about that? i feel like i have read SO MUCH but i know there is like 258725 times that to read on the internet. let's hang out! which night is cracker?

xo,
leigh!