Ok. I'm pretty sure the infestation crisis has been averted. After much research I determined the mint was infested with aphids. That super sucks. They say that you can squirt them with water and they'll just slip off but with all of the articles and other blog posts I read through they all said if you had an infestation as bad as mine (as in millions of bugs) you just have to gut the plant ensuring those bugs don't get full and move on to your other delectables. GUT THE PLANT?!!! Oh no! So I called Devon and whined about it and then gutted it. I then checked all of my other plants (no aphids, yay!) and mixed a water bottle of soapy water. Apparently this is a great fix to keep future aphids away.
Fun fact: When worried that you may get aphids look for ants heading to your plant. Aphids secrete a "honeydew nectar" that ants think is delicious! Ants will actually herd aphids like shepards to sheep in order to harvest their nectar to take back to the queen. Gotta love the internet! (and yes, I had ants about a week before this infestation).
Luckily mint is an incredibly resilient plant. I wanted to try and preserve the roots hoping it would come back and look! I actually have new growth already!!
A tiny mint leaf coming back to life!
After ensuring there were no other aphids on any of the plants (a few days later by the way. I was scratching like I was infested for at least a day) and harvested the lettuce! I had a ton and really needed to eat it before it flowered. I made an amazing salad to eat with a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. It had avocado and heirloom tomatoes on it and I ate it up, looked at my empty plate and OOPS! I forgot to take a picture! Well, trust me, it was delicious.
Lettuce leaves after washing
Next project were the seeds that never worked, remember? Well the basil and the oregano sprouted! The chives just grew mold, so I'm not really sure how to get those started. I'm thinking of putting the few seeds left in to the freezer for a few days and then re-planting them.
Cute little basil sprouts
But of course there are always problems. I got some little cups to plant the transplants in and every time I would grab for a sprout it would tear! It was as if the sprouts actually netted through the wet papertowel. But I am a creative girl, so I just tore the papertowl around a sprout and planted them together. :)
Basil sprout now transplanted stage I
And I lined the cups up on the dining room table to get some sun and continue to grow before I move them outside.
Three cups for basil and one for oregano
I know you've heard me complain about how amazing Devon's spinach is compared to mine. I'm 100% sure mine was stunted. It's been over a month now and this is it?!
Yellowed spinach
So I ripped them all out, supplemented with new soil and re-planted. Hopefully these guys will be kickin'! And since I was working on that I also planted the thyme and zucchini. Can't wait to see these blossom. Also the cilantro is ready to eat! Good thing Matt will be home in 1.5 weeks to eat it!!!!
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