Hi retainthedays, Welcome to Garden Web and The Seed Exchange. Please see the link below for instructions on getting your Member Page email link set up so that you can easily be reached. The second reply in the thread explains how to look for 'Seeds for Postage Offers' where members are offering up their excess seeds. Possibly you can find some herbs and goodies that way. chemocurl...aka Sue Here is a link that might be useful: addressing newbie and newer member issues

I know mint grows fine in the ground in central FL and the 'soil' is all sand with way too good drainage. I wouldn't put potting soil in the ground, I think doing that right around a plant tends to cause more problems than it solves, I would instead amend a larger area of soil by mixing in compost. You do have to water mint it likes water. You might give it a few days to see if it perks up, if not maybe move it to an area that gets more water like near a gutter outlet or under an eve (not standing water but more water-you kinda have to work to drown mint though it's possible, my mom's done it). You might mulch too to help retain water. My mint is all munched on too. I've seen cabbage loopers (I believe-light green caterpillars that make a loop when they move) on them and the basil next to it, you could take care of this with Bt (Dipel). I mostly blame crickets at night for the mint, but they were also eating the leaf heads right off my garden seedlings. That made me mad. So, I went on a murderous cricket rampage, placing glasses filled with a mix of molasses, lemon, vanilla and water all about my garden. The crickets happily dove right into the glasses and drowned. This seems to have helps my seedlings, I'm not sure about the mint yet. Oh, holes in just the center of plant's leaves often suggests snails and slugs, look at night with a flashlight for them.

Thanks, rhizo_1. I really hope it isn't leaf miner. From what little I read online, it seems to be harder to get rid of than aphids (and more insidious). I tried holding the leaves up to light, but they were too withered to get a good view. I have a peppermint plant near the mint that doesn't seem to be affected yet. I guess I will be moving the peppermint to another window. Any suggestions for getting rid of the leaf miner on an indoors plant besides neem oil or wasps (which isn't an option)? Would regularly plucking off the affected leaves help? Also, is it possible the leaf miner originated in my home or was it there in the plant when I purchased it? Unfortunately, by the time I got my mint home it was suffering from shock - it took me a while to get home and the mint was not happy in the plastic bag I had it in. It took about 2 weeks before the mint was back to normal and before I realized the affected leaves were not the result of the shock but a pest.

With the feta, I would have gone for mint, but I wanted to post to say that watermelon, or melon generally -- even a melon and fresh pineapple mix, is amazing with a little mint, basil and lime juice -- skip the feta. Pineapple alone works too. I have 2 watermelons right now, thanks to an impulse purchase and a CSA delivery withing 24 hrs. of each other. I think we need to do the basil and mint AND try the watermelon, cucumber and jalapeno salad idea. That sounds great for dinner with the leftover salmon we have. Thanks for a new idea.