Can I keep these alive?
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I post a picture and just a few words.
I've got kind of a black thumb to begin with, and my house is distressingly short of bright, sunny windows in the wintertime (darn trees!).
But these were marked down at Aldi the other week, so I'm gonna give it a shot.
I've used fresh sage before (in the spatchcocked turkey I made for Thanksgiving last year), but I've actually never used fresh thyme. I'm looking forward to giving it a try, though.
Any tips for keeping thyme and sage alive indoors?
Don't over-water, only water when soil is almost completely dry. Keep in sunny window. No need to add any fertilizer. They do well on their own, just don't fuss too much over them and clip a bit at a time from all the branches not just take an entire stem off. This will make it regrow quicker and fuller. You can do it, I'm sure! 🙂
Fresh thyme is so good on chicken and pork chops. My favorite pork chop recipe of all time is on the skinny taste website. It's called autumn pork chops and uses thyme. I highly recommend it.
Put those babies in bigger pots!
Isn't the Thyme a perennial? I think I have some planted outdoors and it blooms nicely year after year. Never used it in anything though.
I think I have sage outside too....so no green thumb needed plant them outside and they take care of themselves. I don't even water them. I have mint too which does tend to spread but easy to grow outside with NO care at all.
You should water it every two days. So I was told. If it gets dry though:
just collect it, freeze, use it later. Not, that you know that yourself.
One can always use Thyme and this way it would not be a total waste.
Fresh Thyme is wonderful in your green bean recipe!
I just had this land into my inbox and thought of you... "Cooking with Thyme". It explains how to use it, in general terms. I have a pot of it outdoors (I bring it inside when it freezes) that I've had for 2 or 3 years. I usually use cut mine off, dry it, and refill my spice bottle 🙂
http://www.simplypotatoes.com/freshideas/october-2014-Cooking-with-Thyme
Fresh thyme is AMAZING!!! I have substituted it for Herbs de Provence in many soups and stews. We had it in our herb garden in Texas and I miss it! It was very easy to grow in a fairly dry environment, but since we have moved to Charleston, SC I haven't tried it yet. Good luck and enjoy!
I agree with a previous poster. The easiest way to take care of these two is to plunk them in the ground outside. Both will overwinter and you don't really need to do anything to them besides weed around them until they get established. I'm sure they could be kept alive inside, but I'm bad with house plants, so I don't bother. Depending on your gardening zone, you can harvest these two herbs from the garden for most of the year anyway.
My thyme died outside last year. It had been there for three or four years and done great. I love fresh thyme. I am not sure what happened. It was healthy and happy until about December, our first snow, and it never came back this spring. My sage and rosemary and chives came back. Anyhow, just a word of caution on plants outside. I live in maryland.
Oh I meant to say, ATK had some amazing uses for sage and thyme!! I love their butternut squash risotto... It has sage in it. Also, they have a pan cooked chicken with sage and shallots. So yummy. And they have a new way to cook red potatoes that calls for thyme.
I love fresh thyme in scrambled eggs. Also fabulous in salad dressings
I'm with you on the black thumb so no help in the gardening department! But I've got a great shepherd's pie recipe that uses fresh thyme if you get a hankering to use your thyme. 😉 And I think it was my mom that had a lemon-thyme scone recipe that is to die for.
Don't overwater - that's how I killed my first potted plants. Give them a thorough watering when the topsoil starts to feel dry, and don't leave them standing in water. If they're from a supermarket, be vigilant for pests in the first week.
My secret to keeping indoor plants is Plant Nannies. They are ~17.00 for a set of 4 new (I don't know if you could score them second-hand) but they last indefinitely and I haven't killed an indoor plant since I started using them. They are basically hollow terracotta tubes that you upend a wine or water bottle into. The plant takes what it needs and when the bottle is empty you just refill. No over or under watering. I balked at the initial price, but I have to say that I've probably saved that much in not replacing dead plants, and having the fresh herbs available instead of doing store bought.
I find herbs don't do well inside for me over the winter and my green thumb is semi-decent. I think they really need the large pot/extensive sunlight of the summer. However, give it another try with a big pot, have it in a southern facing window, direct light but far enough away that it doesn't get too cold from being close to a window. Good luck! If it starts to die out, pick the leaves, chop them and freeze them in ice cube trays with enough water to cover. Then thaw and use as needed.
If it doesn't get too cold where you are, they might do fine outside over the winter, even in (larger) pots. I'm in zone 7b and my thyme and sage do just fine.
One of my favorite ways to use thyme is in a simple brothy soup made with small spring leeks sauteed in olive oil, then add chicken stock, fresh thyme, salt and pepper.
Can I keep a large sprig of sage alive in water until it roots? Can I then plant it in dirt in a larger pot to grow in a window?
If it grows roots, then yes, I think that should work!