Coming soon: Basil Pesto |
My dad used to grow a fabulous garden every year. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, peppers, carrots, radishes ... so much great stuff.
I've dabbled with gardening over the years, but recently I haven't spent a whole lot of time with planting anything. I have a few unkillable herbs that come back on their own every year, but that's about it.
This year, I was thinking about putting in a few extra herbs, so when I got an offer from Miracle Gro to try their Gro-ables, I figured it was a perfect opportunity.
Or maybe motivation.
Groables are seed pods. Meaning that you just insert the pod into the soil, and you're done. Well, there might be some watering and weeding, but planting has been made pretty foolproof. The pods are designed for younger consumers or people who are new to gardening, but I think it's great for me, because I just don't have tons of time to fuss with planting in the spring. I'm perfectly happy to have it made a little easier.
The seeds, according to the Gro-Ables website are non-GMO, and the pods keep the seeds at the right depth for planting with "growing materials" in the pods that help keep enough moisture near the seeds. There's also some appropriate fertilizer.
All the the pods are for food plants - herbs or vegetables - so people can plant a garden outdoors or stuff some plants into containers on a balcony or near a bright window.
I'm going to be getting basil, butter lettuce, and dill seed pods, which is perfect because I love all three.
It's a tad early for planting anything outside right now, but I like container gardening better, anyway. So these will be going into big pots so I can drag them indoors when it snows. Because I know for sure we're not done with snow. Really, really sure. *sigh* But hopefully I'll have some lovely seedlings popping out soon that will get me motivated to do some more planting this year.
Or at least I'll have some butter lettuce, dill, and basil, which is better than I did last year, despite my good intentions.
There's something soooo satisfying about going outside with a pair of scissors and coming in with just enough of whatever fresh herbs I want. When I have some basil to harvest, I'm looking forward to some pesto. And I have plans for that in a recipe. The upcoming pesto recipe won't be your basic pesto, though. The ingredient list includes:
Basil
Macadamia nut butter
Black garlic
Olive oil
Salt
Lemon juice
But that's all the hint you're going to get. You'll have to wait a bit for the full recipe.
For more info about Gro-ables, check out this video:
So ... are you planning a garden this year? Planting any herbs? Container garden? Let me know!