Cindy, I usually put a grape tomato in one pot the same size that you recommended Whit using; do you think that I could put a couple of marigolds in there as well for the bug-controlling effect, or would it make better sense to plant one pot exclusively with marigolds and put it between two pots, each with a single grape tomato plant in it?
Hi Whit, if it isn't obnoxious for someone who has been here a few days longer than you to say welcome,
I wanted to put in my two cents about the basil -- I'm planting it like it's going to be a cash crop for me this year; I moved last summer and didn't do any gardening, and have gone the whole time without any fresh or frozen homegrown basil, which is completely alien to my existence as a matter of culture, practice and, I suspect, DNA. What Cindy said about the cilantro applies to the basil also as far as harvesting -- we pinch off the flowers so that it doesn't go to seed, so don't let it go so far. And if you find yourself with more than you can use, pick and sort the leaves, wash them, dry them thoroughly, place them in a (BPA free, if you can manage it!) plastic bag or container, and stick it in the freezer. I also make pesto and put it in dedicated ice cube trays; when they freeze, I pop them out and put them in said bag or container in the freezer. I only use olive oil and garlic, by culture, I'm supposed to use pignoli as well, we used to, until half the people in the family couldn't eat nuts. We never use cheese, and Italians start wars over food, so that's not meant to be provocative, just a statement of fact. I envy you using seed, I use plants. Seed never works out for me. I put my basil and other herbs in just after the 15th or so of April (we're in the same zone) and they last all summer. Sometimes, the basil might get a little tired in June, but the nursery still has plants left, so I'll replace any plants then to keep it going through September.
