Life in the Garden Part 01: Thinning

A few weeks ago I planted some Basil seeds. Lemon Basil, actually. And so far, they're doing well.

An important element of planting from seed, though, is thinning. And it's one of the less pleasant gardening tasks.

To have a healthy crop you start with a lot of seeds, because many won't grow. Once you've got some growth, though, and have 10 or 20 little plants, you have to decide who lives and who dies. If you don't thin, the plants will never grow up healthy. The plants will not have enough room to grow so they will be stunted or die.

So you thin. By thinning, you choose which are the most likely to be healthy and grow well. I look at how healthy they are, how big they already are and where they are in the pot.

The rest, I pull and drop in the trash. It's a little frustrating, but it's part of what has to be done.

Oh, and Garden Gnomes make all the difference.