Footprint 28: Progress!

There has been progress with other plants in the garden.

Seven garlic plants which have germinated

The six ginger plants in their lowly dwelling

 The leaves of the ginger look a little tatty.  I understand that this is normal.  And after all, it is not the leaves that I am interested in.  It is all that yummy ginger root which is secretly swelling under the soil.  It is almost time to move the ginger into the garage.  It goes dormant in winter.  I live in a winter rainfall region, and do not want the plants to become waterlogged.  Although I must admit, with the sever shortage of rain over the last few months, there seems to be minimal chance of that happening for the next few weeks.

The lettuce which is looking so lush

And the ever growing compost heap:

Compost, layered with brown and green

And my indoor windowsill:

Pumpkin, sunflower and rocket

 I am not convinced that I will do sprouts this way again.  They take as long as any other plant to germinate and grow.  The limited space in which they have seems to stunt their growth.  It was worth the experiment anyway.  I might try again, this time adding nutrient to the environment and see whether that makes a difference.  The pumpkin seeds on the left in the front don't seem to mind the fact that there is no nutrient besides water.  They are quite bitter to eat.

Basil

The basil fascinates me.  I place water in the trays at the bottom at least twice a day.  Whenever I look again the trays are empty.  Both plants grow at a faster rate than I can consume them.  I have taken to making a bottle of marinade which I use often, and keep adding basil.  It ensures that the marinade remains constantly fresh.  Other additives to the marinade are the basic olive oil and vinegar [whatever is at hand], chutney [Mrs Balls at the moment, until the apple chutney is ready], a small addition of honey, some mustard, loads of garlic and the basil.  One can, of course, add anything else that takes one's fancy.  I don't add salt or pepper.  I add this separately, depending on what I am cooking, and how much salt and pepper I feel like at the time.

I am waiting for the shallots to sprout.  I so hope they do.  The garlic was slow to sprout, so I am hoping that all that is required for the shallots is patience.