This is going to sound extremely silly, but I actually have a hard time cutting my herbs. I actually feel sorry for them. :( All right, you may now feel free to call me crazy.

I don't think it is silly. Many people love their house plants...I see no difference. I actually prefer to eat plants that don't have to die so that I can eat part of them, but I would rather not have to hurt or kill anything to eat.

Ah! Don't feel alone, mouse! I feel the same way sometimes with the peppers and basil we have. It's sad we can't be like plants and produce our own food, I guess, but we have to kill something to live ourselves (unless you only eat fruits, nuts, and vegetables that have fallen from trees), and at least the plants don't feel pain and fear when we cut what we eat from them, like animals do.

Cassie

You aren't crazy, Mouse. After you put so much time and TLC into them, it kind of goes against the grain to "destroy" them. Makes sense to me.

If it's something like basil you can feel better knowing you're extending its life... not knowing what other herbs I can't offer any help for those... :)

I confess. I have some miserable looking plants in my garden that I can't bring myself to pull out. I'm sure they are doing their best!

Thanks, all of you!!! :love: I don't think anyone in my RL would understand.

YOu're crazy. though I have to admit, I was outside today taking a few bad leaves off my cucumber patch and I did begin to feel for it. Of course, I've been crazy for a long time.

B

:D :D :D Well, at least I'm not alone in this madness! :D

Hee-hee! When I cut my herbs, or pinch the sad-looking leaves off the houseplants, I always apologize to them! Like, "Sorry to have to do this, but these leaves look yellow, and you'll feel better without them." Or, "Oh, you look so beautiful! I'm just going to snip off a few little leaves here."

I usually giggle & feel silly doing it, but I do it anyway. I'm just VERY soft-hearted.

Look at it as giving them a trimming (like a hair-cut).

Most all herbs benefit from being topped off.

If you mean pulling them up......that's a different story (I have a small problem with that too - I cope by returning them to the ground as compost - and life goes on :))

Ya, I agree with dvmarie, its like giving them a haircut. I do admit when out in the garden I ponder other things like, should I have the right to decide what plants should live or die? Where they should grow? Is it right to pull out weeds...they are just plants trying to survive....how about that????

slynny, I have those same thoughts. :( I have to admit, I can no longer bring myself to pull up whatever grows in the cracks in my asphalt driveway. The neighbors may not like it, because it doesn't look neat and tidy, but it's such a triumph of life over adverse conditions!

I agree that you can feel bad for them. I don't bother with killing plants, only when they bother me, hehe. Or when they are sick or I need the space to grow something else.

Right now I have a very old lettuce plant in my system. It bolted and went to seed just last week. I leave it because I don't have anything else to grow right now. And it's interesting to see how it looks like - it's really quite spectacular how tall it grew in just a few days! Plus, since it's an open pollinated cultivar, maybe I will have the chance to collect and save some seeds!!!

One thing that you can do though if you grow plants that you have to pull, is to constantly sow new seeds so that you always have new friends :) Or better yet, make cuttings of the original plant - this way they will all be clones of the mother plant!!

Don't feel silly, I have a friends who give names to her plants (There is Robert, Chantal, Matthieu, Isidore...) :dizzy: ;)

With my herbs, I feel like I must trim them back or they parish. Funny thing is, the plants grow better, and thicker after I trim some of it off for them. My Coriander, I almost lost, but I trimmed it way back, and it is growing like gangbusters.

I feel the plants are serving their purpose, and they seem happy after I clean them up from time to time.

posted by Oatmeal:
One thing that you can do though if you grow plants that you have to pull, is to constantly sow new seeds so that you always have new friends Or better yet, make cuttings of the original plant - this way they will all be clones of the mother plant!!

I love doing this, I spread plants all over the yard from one small plant that someone will give me. I have several plants that seeded themselves from last year including cilantro, lettuce, snapdragons, morning glorys, and petunas to name a few. I also have poenies that are at least 70 years old...they were may grandmas...I bought her house years ago and when I moved I dug them up and planted them here :D I have a pic of my dad as a boy standing next to them. :sunny: