Ac Baker

Timothy Li wrote:Hi everyone! I’m a college student in Michigan and completely new to gardening. I’m interested in starting with one herb indoors that I could eventually use for cooking. I have limited space and would prefer to keep the setup inexpensive.
What herb would be manageable for a beginner during Michigan’s fall and winter, and how would I figure out whether my window provides enough light?

Hi! My first question would be, which herbs do you like to eat?  

Chives and mustard greens both have punchy flavours and grow quickly from seed.  But no point growing them if you don't like them.

Also, which direction(s) relative to the sun do your window(s) face?  Since you're in the Northern hemisphere, "sunwards" is South.  A north-facing window will get the lowest light, but even that should be enough for leafy herbs like chives.

(My favourite "seasoning" plant to grow on a windowsill is actually chilli.  But they are a woodier plant that takes much longer & more light & warmth to grow & set fruit, than a leafy herb like chives).

What's the best next step ..

Many thanks for the tip!  

Yes, it had occurred to me that green tomatoes must have some solanine, which it turns out can cause significant food sensitivity / intolerance.  

I'm living with IBS (since I had to take high-dose antibiotics for a serious infection in Aug 2025), so it's great to know that a large proportion of green tomatoes have the potential to ripen off the plant!

For some reason, this thread didn't come up the first time I searched 'green tomatoes' on my phone!  

My question was, is there any way to tell which green tomatoes have the potential to ripen, or is it just "time will tell"?  

I'm guessing that the paler, more yellow-green they are, the more likely they have the potential to ripen eventually?

Delighted to see this cake recipe .. I think it's possible to incorporate a pretty wide range of vegetable purees into cake, as long as you keep track of the "wet" and "dry" proportions reasonably well.

Clairey Allen wrote:I’m excited to hear how the popping turns out!

Some of the varieties are so beautiful, and we can grow so many closely related species so well in the Midlands of England, I'm keen to try growing it next year too if I can.

Is there any way to tell, other than "wait & see" which tomatoes are most likely to ripen off the vine?

I guess the yellow ones are more likely to have the potential?

As far as I can tell, there's no large amaranth selection.  Apparently popping them is very heat sensitive, and done in a tall pan with no lid  I have some shop bought I am going to try popping!

Still no frost forecast.

We're sufficiently cool however, apart from the centre track of Storm Austen: https://blightspy.huttonltd.com/#/forecast?locationId=315

So fingers crossed!

Joao Winckler wrote:Chickweed .. Feels a bit ridiculous that I was removing it all those years.

Don't feel too bad.  I'm always surprised by how many "keen gardeners" have no ideal how many edible & tasty plants they just call "weeds".

Lovely surprises here!

Our best cropping tomatoes by far, self-starter from the partly rotted compost we trenched the scarlet runner beans with.

I'm also trying mounding up our purple potato volunteers around the plot.  We've got new seed purple potatoes on order too.  But it will be interesting to see what we can do with the volunteers too ..