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Ok maybe I'm bonkers

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
in The potting shed
But do you ever feel slightly guilty about using and discarding 'battery farmed' herbs?
This thought occurred to me as I massacred a pot of supermarket coriander.
In my defence, I do stand the used pots in the garden and some survive - usually parsley.
In London. Keen but lazy.
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  • Julia1983Julia1983 Posts: 139
    Yes... But I'm probably bonkers too... I'm guilty of buying the reduced stuff outside too to 'save' it... And I'm always super pleased when it rallies and does really well 😂  I've kept supermarket herbs going for a summer by repotting them,  much better than binning them and easier than growing from seed if, like me, you've little space. 
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I always plant out the chives. They do well.
    I also don't like the idea of weedkillers as I don't want to destroy the entire population of a particular weed in my garden. The same goes for slugs and snails. So long as they keep themselves to themselves we can get along.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I know what you mean, one supermarket pot of coriander is enough for one meal, then its a gonner! Potting on to a bigger pot or putting it in the ground will give you bigger plants that will last beyond single use. I bought a small pot of flat leaved parsley and planted it out last year, now its a huge bushy plant that I can just snip off what I need as and when.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The pots of herbs can usually be split up, and replanted to give a better length of usage time as they are usually several plants, not just one. 
    I've never used them though. I sow basil, which I keep on a windowsill,  and have other herbs in the greenhouse over winter, or in the garden, for using regularly.
    I don't think you should feel too guilty - they're produced for exactly that reason, ie use and discard.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
     Supermarket Greek basil makes a lovely ball shape if you plant it in a bigger pot. You just need to be careful that it doesn't get mould in the middle.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    That's how I usually grow basil - freeing a supermarket captive.  :)

    so whilst you most probably are bonkers, @B3, it's not your attitude to battery farmed plants that gives you away  B)
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    🎩 mad as a hatter
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    Not at all I have rosemary at the allotment growing well from supermarket pot costing 89p when s pot from GC was £2.99
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Do you mean "cut" herbs, the ones in pots with roots, I nurture and grow for at least that year
  • RubytooRubytoo Posts: 1,630
    Parsley seems fine potted on or re-potted.
    But Basil I buy and use up. I hate cooking but do batch ratatouille as it freezes well. A whole pot of Basil will go in.
    I can never manage to keep it or don't have the knack to keep it with nice succulent leaves and stems. So fresh and cheap "sacrifices" with the old plants going into the compost bin......
    .....one can re use the plastic pots a few times if so inclined. :)

    Rosemary if needed comes from the garden.
    Coriander is an invention of the devil, I unfortunately find it tastes like bleach.
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