I have a black thumb. I don't know what exactly I do wrong, every time, but I kill plants, vegetables, herbs and pretty much everything else that is green and grows from the dirt (with the exception of those stinky, ugly red, white and purple flowers you see in the summertime - I'm pretty sure you can't kill them!)
Knowing this info about myself, this year I decided to try to pick things that would be harder to kill...or at least I thought they would be. I also have a plan that I don't want to dig up a portion of my yard for a garden if I can't grow anything in a container first. Makes sense, right?!
So, I planted and harvested the following:
Planter Cherry Tomatoes - they produced 2-3 actually edible tomatoes before the 100 year flood hit and drowned the plant completely.
One of the lone survivors!
Brussel Sprouts - got them to sprout but never got a brussel. I can attribute this to the flood, however even with the proper care and if planted in the right time, I don't think I was going to get an actual veggie to grow.
Beets - got some green stuff to start coming up out of the dirt but pretty sure they didn't have enough room to keep growing and died before any vegetable formed.
Heirloom Tomatoes - I knew these were a long shot to begin with but we love them so much I had to try. Not only once, but twice. The first plant died so we bought a second, only to have it suffer the same fate. It was pretty though and I did get it to bloom, only to have my dog break the one branch that had blooms on it. Oh well, better just buy those from the store I guess.
Cilantro - I was able to get one full harvest of cilantro and we used it in pretty much everything of Mexican flavor. That plant didn't last long though as it died shortly after the first harvest. The lesson I learned there is...learn what to do with the plant to keep it growing after you harvest.
First Harvest of Cilantro!
Basil - I was able to grow basil for a little while as well and we did use it in some caprese salads, but that was about it. I think our plant did not like being in the sunlight with the other plants and wanted rather to be an indoor plant. It died...from heat exhaustion and drought (pre-100 year flood, where it likely would have suffered the opposite fate).
Ate a few leaves with fresh tomatoes but didn't get much else from this basil plant.
Mint - I wanted to grow mint because people tell me there's no way that you can kill a mint plant. Well, they can take that theory and throw it out the window! There is a way and I did it. If you ask me what it was, I couldn't tell you. All I know is that I was successful at it and the mint did not make it into mojitoes for the 3rd Annual VanDeed Field Day as I had hoped it would.
So, what did I learn from this? 1. Don't dig up the yard next Spring as I'm definitely likely to have a mud pit instead of a garden. 2. Money would better be spent on Farmer's Market produce vs. trying to buy and grow myself. 3. I'm a horrible gardener and need some serious help. 4. On my next 101 goals list you will probably see "Take a Gardening Class".
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