Click and Grow has herbs on autopilot

The vegetable garden is packed away for the winter, but we are expecting to have fresh basil all winter.

This week my daughter and I got our hands on basil-in-a-box from Click and Grow, a company that makes what's been called kits for the botanically challenged.

The Click and Grow pot is a plastic container that looks like a Mac Mini. Inside is a cartridge that contains soil, seeds, and fertilizer plus a water reservoir, a pump and light sensors. All we had to do was add batteries and water and place the box in a spot that gets about six hours of sunlight each day.

This is a houseplant that should be hard to kill. The only thing you have to do is refill the water reservoir about once a month. And there's a flashing light on the pot that signals when water or fresh batteries are needed.

The Click and Grow folks say we should see green sprouts in a couple of weeks. I'll update this report when we see some live growth and again when we have our favorite appetizer: tomato slices with mozzarella, olive oil and fresh basil. 

The pots with one cartridge cost about $60 at clickandgrow.com. Replacement cartridges are $20. There are 10 plant options including marigolds, lemon balm, thyme, mini tomatoes, and chili peppers