Every day I stare out of the kitchen window with it's shelf of assorted plants. These plants are food! I use the store celery till it's down to the last few small stalks. Set this in a shallow dish on the sill. It just grows again. When the roots are started it gets put in dirt. The middle of an onion will grow another onion. I just cut the onion in half and remove the little part in the middle with the bit of root bottom. Most people throw this away! Put it in water on the sill and have new green onion tops in a day or so. Great for fresh tasty greens. When they get to big out they go into the garden also. There are also little broken pieces of house plants there that get started and given away to those who visit.

So what does everyone else have on their kitchen window sill?

-- shari (smillers@snowcrest.net), March 15, 2002

Answers

Solar charging flashlight, sprouts and daily bread pans with rising dough.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), March 15, 2002.

My husband made a bay window over the kitchen sink. Its full of potted herbs.

-- Kelly (homearts2002@yahoo.com), March 15, 2002.

Nice trick with the celery! I like growing it but those tiny sprouts are hard to keep alive until they are big enough to handle the heat and our spring out here is SHORT! - I'll try it.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 15, 2002.

What fun Sheri! I keep herbs in my window also, blooming bulbs and a crystal prism to catch the light. I loved your tip about the onion and celery. That is great and I will try this. Thanks! LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), March 15, 2002.

Hmm, right now my kitchen window sill contains the following:

One bottle liquid hand soap - I wash my hands every night when I come in from doing the chores and I prefer the kitchen sink since it's bigger than the bathroom sink. Why are bathroom sinks always so small as to be practically useless? I'm very tempted to replace the doggone thing with a utility sink.

Two bottles of prescription medication. It seems I remember to take my bp pill more regularly when the bottle sits in the kithchen window sill rather than in the bathroom.

A bottle of multivitamins.

A bottle of ibuprofen.

No plants in the house, but then living in Florida that's not quite as important as it is for you folks further north.

......Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), March 15, 2002.

Wow..that was neat about the celery..did not know you could do that! My sill has a radio (Rush is on right now), a wee kettle that belonged to my grandma and a hand carved face of a woman that my great grandmothers daughter made..its stone.

-- Sher (riverdobbers@webtv.net), March 15, 2002.

a cat,, hand cleaner, when the cat doesnt knock it off

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), March 15, 2002.

I never knew that about celery and plan to start doing it right away. My windowsill always has cuttings of indoor plants and outdoor plants. Right now, there are some cultivated blackberry branches from a long branch that had broken off.

I finally planted the bridal wreath, azalea, and forsythia that I'd cut earlier in my mini nursery later to become landscape plants.

Why does anyone buy plants when you can have so much fun trading with friends and family?

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.

I have a pineapple top rooting in my kitchen window. A sprout tray, african violet and a candle lamp for when the power goes out.

Soon, it will also sport and onion and celery! Thanks, Shari.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), March 15, 2002.

I have a pineapple top rooting in my kitchen window. A sprout tray, african violets and a candle lamp for when the power goes out. There's also a mango seed that is not sprouting.

Soon, it will also sport and onion and celery! Thanks, Shari.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), March 15, 2002.

I like rescuing African Violets that are dying from places like Wal- Mart and Home Depot. When they get to that stage they practically give them away. My window sill is full (and I mean full) of beautiful flowering African Violets which have come back to life. These are wonderful during the winter up here in Maine when the landscape get's downright depressing. I am going to try the onion. I love small onion greens and it looks like at least another 2 to 2 1/2 months before anything will grow out in the frozen wasteland known as my garden during the summer.

-- Janice in Maine (kenjan@pivot.net), March 15, 2002.

Syringes for animals, plants, stainless steel bowls, plants, the cat when I'm not looking, small ceramic figurines, stuff Boy made for me, rocks, hand lotion, decorated sprouted potatoes to look like faces - like apple head doll heads, small bell, and other stuff that clutter the window....

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), March 15, 2002.

Rocks. My kid's rock collection lines the narrow sill. Wish I had a window box, but the window faces north, so what would be the point?

:-)

-- Andrea Gauland (andreagee@aol.com), March 15, 2002.

Nothing!!! I like clean spaces, I don't have anything sitting out anywhere!

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), March 15, 2002.

I have slips from tomato plants rooting. I also have a carrot top in water that's made a pretty plant. I've never heard of doing the celery trick but you can bet I'll do it now. Thanks Shari! Earlier this winter I learned about the onion and have a planter about 2' long with potting soil. When I cut off the bottom end I put in in the soil and have green onions for salads in no time. I just keep adding onions (we use them in almost everything) to my soil as I cut them up and it's really slick.

-- Anna in Iowa (countryanna54@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.

Nothing here either. I like the barren danish or shaker style. I can't be around clutter without having a strong need to start picking up and putting away stuff lol.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.

A bottle of Glucosamine and Chrondroitin Sulphate for these tired, acking joints. And usually a few ripening tomatoes. My green tomatoes didn't get hit by a killing freeze until January. The last of them finally spoiled last week and got tossed into the compost bucket under the sink.

-- Dwight (summit1762@aol.com), March 15, 2002.

Well lets see..... 2 primrose my girls bought me. 6 african violets my girls also bought. ( started out as 2 but when a leaf gets broken I just stick it back in the dirt till I get another one.) 1 very large butterfly plant. my rings, cause I forget to put them back on. A bottle of dish soap, and a couple of 2 litter bottles lids my mother in law saved for an upcoming project. AND... coming soon to my kitchen window.... Celery and Onions... Thanks Shari..

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 15, 2002.

A collection of "pretty rocks", pine cones, acorns, feathers, a small bird nest, a wing from a butterfly, a baby tooth from our german shepherd. All from my 4 year old son, who every time he goes for a walk in the woods with his dad, comes back and says "Mama, I got a big surprise for you" and he pulls things like this out of his pocket. When the windowsill gets too full (like it is now) I will box this stuff up and cherish it forever! There's also a little poem/prayer that says "Slow me down Lord, Ease my hurried pace, Help me find true peace in a warm and gentle place, Calm my worries, lift my fears, let my sould take rest, Help me see the simple gifts that leave my heart so blessed". Reading this and looking at the simple gifts from my son help me to relax at the end of the day while I do dishes. There are also 2 parsley plants that I meant to put in the garden last year and never got to, oh well maybe this spring!

-- rose marie wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), March 15, 2002.

For some reason my windowsill is almost bare today. Usually there are plans and different colored bottles along with what is there today which is dishsoap, handsoap, and miracal grow. I keep one of the plastic trays that go under the long planters on the sill to protect it. This brings me to a handy helpful hint for all you who like to start seeds in the house but have limited windowsill space.

I get two of the spring curtain rods and one of the plant trays. I put the springrods between the window casing (make sure they fit tight) I place the tray on the two springs. You end up with a shelf for sitting plants. I am really having a hard time explaining how to do this so if anyone else knows what I mean please feel free to explain as I think lots of you will appriciate the etra plant shelves for you windows.

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), March 15, 2002.

Thanks for the celery tip!! My window just has scrubbers and such, couple started plants, my dried poppy seed heads, which I'm looking forward to planting, and lots of glass chickens. I have a little poem there too..."Bless the labor of my hands, washing dishes, pots, & pans. Whatsoever I do or think Includes, O Lord my kitchen sink."

-- Suzanne (weir@frontiernet.net), March 15, 2002.

Dust and spider poo. Too small for anything else. Glad to be moving!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.

Loved that answer Soni.....did you realize that you have your own little compost pile there! heehee! My sills have an African violet, 3 pots of pink geraniums, 2 pots of begonias, a seedling Lavender plant,the start of some african blue basil, the start of a hibiscus, two jars of plants rooting, a clear glass bunny and a blue glass bird, two hummingbird nests, my wedding band that I forgot to put back on, and a tiny basket of dried flowers. I am going to try that trick with the onion and celery. That is neat, thanks Shari! Oh..can you tell my kitchen has two big window sills in it? It is always a jungle of flowers in my kitchen!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), March 15, 2002.

Rocks! Beautiful agate slices that catch the light like a stained glass window. Rocks & fossils I've collected and moved with me for years. Crystal prisms. Lots of deflected south sun by the back deck to brighten my home, and a lipstick-red geranium coming soon... debra in nm.

-- debra in nm (goatgirl@unm.edu), March 15, 2002.

Right now I have a rosemary plant an oil lamp two pagers, a jar of cat nip, rocks and crystals from kids, crystals hang on the window too to throw rainbows, art work nick nacks from kids, a bowl of shells from a firends trip to Sana Belle Island, and a few animal drugs and things, and occational cat. I like that question!!!

Susan

-- Susan in MN (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), March 15, 2002.

My mortar and pestel, which right now has some lambar nipples and syringes and needles in it, I start out the year with no syringes and needles in it always worrying "what folks will think" but then they start accumlating. My solar powered wind up radio, hand and dish soap. The window is new, a long list of honey do's got this, one of the last, windows changed out from the used windows we started with, a window box will be next with something that will live in direct heat growing in it :) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.

Chickens!! Lots of small ceramic chickens, plus chickens on candle holders, a picture frame, napkin holder, toothpick holder, several salt and pepper shakers and even a mobile with chickens on it! I've also got other candles in wine glasses or old pressed glass holders, depression glass reamers (juicers), an aloe plant for burns, cuts and blister care and a philodendron that I rescued from Hub a long while back. The windows themselves have several (plastic) suncatchers that friend's children and my patients have given me - and yep, there is a chicken one of those too!

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), March 15, 2002.

I don't have a window sill!! :-(. But I will soon, once my husband finishes the kitchen. I will have one at the window over the kitchen sink and one underneath the two large windows at the side of the kitchen. I plan to have a small plant or two on the small one and nothing on the long one, except at Christmas when I plan to put an electric candle there.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.

My cilantro's plants.

-- Ralph (rroces1@yahoo.com), March 15, 2002.

Kitchen herbs and cutting starts.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 15, 2002.

Nothing on mine either - I also like clean spaces. Mine are really too narrow anyway and my kitchen window goes out to the screened in back porch. Now the porch is another story.....wringer washer, chicken feed, dog food, cat food, potting bench, soda pop, recycle bin, and probably a cat or two...and only God knows what else there is out there!

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.

My plants I'm starting are on my dining room window sill because it gets south sun. Lets see......kitchen window sill. That would be my collection of blue cobalt glass. A neat old clear jar with silk bluebonnets, a spongeware ceramic cat and a very small pottery container I got on the square in Santa Fe years ago that has a cat drawn on it in blue. A cobalt glass juicer. A colbalt blue glass milk bottle, a large clear glass container with cork, 2 small blue cobalt glass cannisters with silver lids, a blue cobalt apple my mom got me, a blue willow saucer and a small sheep with real wool my aunt brought me from New Zealand. Up above the window sill on top of the glass are two old blue medicine bottles and a starfish. These are some of my favorite things and I love to look at them every day. Have been there for years and I have no plans to change them. That in itself is a miracle for me, so you know I love them.

-- connie in nm (karrelandconnie@msn.com), March 15, 2002.

I have a Jobs tear plant, a jade plant, 2 avocado seeds in water, toothpicks included, a mothers in law plant, a burros tail plant, morter and pestle, lots of needles (the spring break kids used them to puncture eggs for blowing) a cup full of assorted paint brushes, a teeny pig pitcher, syringes, and lambs nipples. I try really hard to keep it tidy, but, it only lasts a few days! In His Grace, Sissy

-- Sissy Barth (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), March 15, 2002.

These answere are so fun to read. I feel like I can peak into your lives and know you a little bit.

My window sill has: two hand bells, a clay face made from creek clay by my daughter, rocks brought to me by my son, a quart jar of paint brushes, a cup full of seed heads from wild onions, an arrow head found in the garden, a fishing lure, a key that doesn't fit anything, a ceramic angel with a broken wing(where is that super glue) a small figure of a woman in a long dress holding a laundry tub(holds hand soap) an aloe vera plant and a sprig of hibiscus that has finally rooted.

Hanging above the sink is a borax crystal made by my son. He is seven and really loves science. He's always finding new things to try, calls it his "science experience".

-- Mona in OK (modoc@ipa.net), March 16, 2002.

I have in my window,Rainbow peppers,3 kinds of tomatoe plants,cabbage plants,sweet potatoe plants I started.and the 3 remaining plants still attached to the potatoe in a vase,and toothpicks my hubby stopped smoking and took up toothpicks.Pam

-- pam (pams65@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

3 African Violets, 2 old blue canning jars...one of which is filled with seashells including razor clam shells I picked up on New Smyrna beach in Florida about 20 years ago, one of those 4 watt window "candles", an Angel Wing Begonia cutting from a friend, and a yellow sponge with the green scrubby back on it.

-- LBD, Maryland (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

We have a corner sink with windows behind it which sort of makes a bay window. At present this corner is filled with house plants, but eventually will be used for growing herbs. Right now our house cat has taken a notion to sit there and sun herself, need to break her of the habit. During kidding season, I have an assortment of pop bottles, nipples, syringes etc. that seem to collect there.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), March 16, 2002.

Liquid dish detergent and 7 ripening "Monstera Deliciousa" fruits.

-- Mitzi Giles (Egiles2@prodigy.net), March 16, 2002.

My aloe vera plant (sp?)..couple of nick nacks...bulbs I have been forcing and OH !! of course..my gold fish Dorothy !!!! ( a few cob webs too !! ) as I look out over the valley from my kitchen window...a beautiful way to see the world !!!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), March 17, 2002.

I had mentioned to hubby that I was upset because the only cow figurines that I could find were these horrendous black and white holsteins. He looked for a long time till he finally found my Christmas present. Now, two figurines sit on my windowsill above the kitchen sink: a little Jersey cow and her tiny calf. I'm going to have to find another place for them, however, when open-window season gets here. Anything parked on that windowsill gets blown down.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), March 17, 2002.

A picture is worth a thousand words....

-- Lav, Maryland (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.

i dont have a kitchen windowsill, but , thanks for the idea on celery, have to try that i have a living room window with full southern exposure, and i have a bench there for lots of plants :)

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002.

A glass bluebird and a little vase that holds flowers from my children.

-- connie in md (connie@mission4me.com), March 20, 2002.

Sheri, Had never heard of the celery tip. I couldn't wait to use my celery and try it, so the day you posted that tip, I planned dinner around the remaining celery in the fridge so I could finish it off and plant the core ! ! LOL!

I now have the cutest darn little celery plant growing in one of my kitchen windows. It grew so fast !

Look out salad - - here come so great fluffy celery greens.

THANK YOU for the tip! What fun !

Judy

-- Judy (JMcFerrin@aol.com), April 09, 2002.

I covered my windowsill with marbles. On it is a vine in an antique planter, 2 tall bottles full of Spring flowers, A red, heart-shaped bottle, six glass paperweights, and four prisms. On the window are two suncatchers my daughter made me, one my niece made me, and a twirly, shiny, rainbow-making thing my sister gave me. Lots of light reflecters and rainbow makers.

-- Gayle in KY (gayleannesmith@yahoo.com), April 09, 2002.