Hot or Not: Chia Herb Garden

A family member gave this to us for our birthday, and we have to say, this is not the Chia we remember from our childhood. It grows herbs, not "fur" on a puppy or "hair" on a cartoonish bald man.

This product seems like the less glamorous stepsister of the Trio Herb Pot we blogged last week. On one hand, it's an easy, space-saving option for growing herbs indoors. On the other, you insert a "Chia growing sponge" into each pot instead of soil.

The sponges look like dirt... feel like dirt... But they aren't dirt.

We do get six seed packets to choose from: Basil, Chives, Cilantro, Dill, Marjoram, and Parsley (curly, not flat). The instructions tell us that we can transfer the herbs to the ground once they grow, but living in NYC without a garden, our herbs are destined to live out their days rooted in the sponge. We're not sure how we feel about that, but seeing as we grow alfalfa sprouts in a jar, we're game for anything.

Anyone had experience with the Chia Herb Garden?

(Images: left, Amazon; right, Drugstore.com)

Comments (4)

I got one for christmas last year. It actually works surprisingly well And grows quite quickly

posted by A Lady In Red on March 26th 2008 at 10:31am
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I got one for christmas several years ago, and it didn't do diddly. The seeds sprouted, but that's about as far as they got. And I've got a green thumb! You'll never get herbs that look like that picture with this kit.

posted by any such name on March 26th 2008 at 10:48am
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I just planted my own in little pots. How much does the Chia go for? I'll bet you my herb garden was cheaper.

posted by revolution9 on March 26th 2008 at 12:21pm
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I planted my chia herbs several weeks ago and my basil and parsley are doing quite well. The dill & cilantro are a little pathetic looking. The directions say to water the herbs by filling the bottom trays with water but I think they require much more water than that. Since I've been watering the dirt sponge as well as adding water to the bottom, they have been doing much better...

By the way, I have such a brown thumb that I could probably kill a fake plant...

posted by HappyintheKitchen! on March 27th 2008 at 9:38am
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