#13 Garden

August Update: Although waaaaaaaay smaller than I was originally intending, I have created a little herb and veggie garden for myself on the back deck. I have successfully *not killed* at least half of the plants. So, I consider this a win for this year -_^

The herb garden started off as mint, basil, and sage, but when the sage died I tried lavender (which then, also perished). I now have mint (top) and thyme (bottom). I'm learning that, for now, I need to keep trying until I find a plant I can really jive with. Like, some plants take way too much care that I can't give them, and others are resilient enough to survive my negligence (I'm getting better! I've started getting into more of a routine for watering and checking on them. Everything takes practice, right? -_^). The basil has been revived more than a few times. I keep forgetting to water it on these sunny, summer days. I am pretty impressed with the plants that have survived.

My veggies have been peas and tomatoes. My pea plant got root rot, but did not officially bite the dust until after it produced its first pea pod. So, I count that as a partial success with a learnable moment: make sure that you put rocks at the bottom of the pot before putting in potting soil; the drainage is apparently absolutely necessary for plant health. My tomato plants were grown from organic seeds, and have been really flourishing, with very little assistance from me. Somehow it keeps getting caterpillars though... not sure how that happens on a screened-in porch. I have had several cherry tomatoes at this point, and have a couple more maturing now. Not necessarily a bountiful harvest, but it's been more than I've ever been able to cultivate in the past. Huzzah for progress!

KJets