Jake and Jasmine enjoy hanging out together because they can always find something interesting to do. They prefer to spend most of their time outdoors, because there is so much more interesting things to do than inside. They always find somewhere nice to go to, or something interesting to do.

A few days ago they had visited Nan Fran to ask her about her famous strawberry cake recipe that Jakes mom wanted to try making.  They showed up exactly on time for lunch and Nan Fran treated them with “pasta with pesto”. The macaroni was very tasty with this green sauce and Jasmine asked what is it made of. Nan Fran explained that it is made from the basil that she grows in the garden.

“I will give you the seeds. I have some here in my shed” suggested Dan, with the happy smile that comes up on his face every time someone talks about growing plants. Jake and Jasmine decided to have a go and see what happens. They decided to do just one pot on the window-sill in Jasmines room, they chose a beautiful pot which she had painted with pictures of sunflowers in the art and craft classes at school.

You could have your own Herb- gardening project at home too.

You just need a pot, soil, few seeds and the approval of your parents.

• You need to gather some soil from around the trees and mix it really well with a little bit of compost, before you put it in the pot.
  
• Mix it with about half a handful of seeds, then put it very carefully in the pot and cover it with just a little bit more soil.
  
• For the first week you need to water the seeds every day.
  
• After the baby herb-plants show up, they need to water every second day, or else the flavour of the herb could be reduced by too much growth.
  
• You can follow the same instruction for other herbs like Parsley, Dill or thyme.
  
• You need to take care of these plants for 6 weeks now. This is how long it would normally take before the basil is ready to be picked.

Jasmine suggested that they make a ”basil diary” and record every stage of the plants life.

“Yes, that’s great idea, It would be even better if we plant some more herbs, different than basil and find out the differences about how they grow!” let’s call it “The herb- gardening project”. Sounds like real fun!” said Jake.

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