Went to Conan with Chris and bought more herbs. This time I added oregano and parsley and some basils to the list. Then I bought some vegetables as well: Korean sesame, red bellpepper (which the store labeled tomapi) and some tomatoes. Chris built a shelf for me so that I can put my herbs up so that they can get the maximum sun exposure.
Very cool. I can’t wait for them to get big this summer. 
Now I know why I love growing herbs so much. It’s because I get to make delicious low fat food.
Yesterday I bought some chicken thighs and breasts and made rosemary and thyme marinade.
To make it I used the following herbs:
I chopped them finely and dumped them into a bowl with some olive oil and low sodium soy sauce mixture. Then I ground fresh black pepper and poured the marinade over the chicken. After about one hour, I grilled them using George Foreman Grill and voila, delicious and healthy food ready to eat.
It looks like my theory was correct. It was the poor soil that killed my plants last year.
Last year, I bought the following herbs and vegetables:
Out of those, only the chive survived. Orange peppers and mini tomatoes did only so-so. The rest all died the most gruesome death where their leaves turned brown and eventually black. Their roots didn’t grow very much.
So this year, I bought more herbs to try. This time I bought the following:
I replanted the chive — the sole survivor from last year — and again, they started to brown. So I bought a new bag of soil (different kind and brand) and swapped the soil out. And finally I’m seeing some new green shoots that look healthy. Yay! And Aaron and Saori gave me common thyme, apple mint, and Korean chili to grow this year, so I’m very excited. The common thyme plant is different from the ones I have already. Furthermore, I always wanted to try apple mint because I heard it tastes different from spearmint. The coolest thing is that I think they’re going to grow very well this year. Hopefully, most of them survive and I can make wonderful dishes this year using the organic herbs from the mini garden I have.
BTW — surprisingly enough, the thyme I bought from Conan already started to flower. I had to get rid of them so that it continues to get bushy. Crushing of the flowers released the most wonderful fragrance, however.
