my brown thumb

A few months back, I planted some seeds and put them on the windowsill in our kitchen. There was parsley and thyme, a white fir seedling we received as a favor at a wedding along with a few basil plants I've been encouraging for a few years. My gardening technique isn't very refined: I water them when they look dry and I hope they get enough sun.When we went to Maine, I forgot to ask our cat sitter to water the plants, and I returned to see them brown and dried up. In denial, I continued to water them. Interestingly, one of the basil plants has begun sprouting new green leaves on its dried out stem. Everything else is very dead, though. Today I decided that I needed to remedy this and I (gasp!) bought cilantro, parsley and mint plants at the Greenmarket at Grand Army Plaza. I threw out the brown plants and now I have my instant garden, bigger and bushier than my previous plants were. I feel a little like I cheated; just don't tell anyone, O.K.?