I Have a Brown Thumb

I have never been able to keep a plant alive. I even killed the bamboo plant that was given to my mom as a lucky charm of sorts when my step-dad was dying of liver failure. Yes, I killed a lucky bamboo plant! Last year, I attempted to start a garden in my front yard. My wonderful husband hauled bricks out front, stacked them (and re-stacked them when I decided I wanted them in a different pattern), threw some soil in and we planted some veggies. And within about two weeks, the neighbors cat claimed that raised bed for her (or his) litter box. We tried a few things to keep the cat out, but ended up pulling the plants, using the soil as a filler when we upgraded our back yard over the summer and giving up on the garden. That was a year ago. And this time will be different.

I really want to make salsa from my garden. I want to reap what I have sown, Lord knows I have done a lot of that in the past, but this time I want to create something delicious with the harvest. So, last month (while my husband and I were doing a 28-day, plant-based diet and my [poor] kids were sugar-free) I filled my Amazon cart with a small indoor greenhouse, planter cups, a gardening book, and tags. Then I dug out my seeds from last year. That Jiffy greenhouse has been moved from the table to the counter, to the bench and maybe even to the floor for a short time, just sitting there waiting to be filled with seeds and the hope of life.

“Square Foot Gardening With Kids” by Mel Bartholomew looked like a good place to start. It had great reviews, it was inexpensive, and I figured if it was for kids, maybe I would be able to do it, too. It looked easy enough to build a little garden box, and we were all set to do so when I found some great, sturdy boxes on Facebook Marketplace for less than the cost of the wood alone. My plan was to give each of the kids a box and then my husband and I would share a box, but there were only two available, so the kids each get a box and I get to add a few things to each of them.

So tonight, after an early dinner, I decided it was time. The kids and I rolled up our sleeves (or maybe I unrolled my skirt top that has one of those terrible elastic waistbands that rolls down when I sit a certain way, or twists when I wash it…anyone know how to fix that?) and went to work. First, we had to determine how many seeds to plant, how the layout of our boxes would be, how many onion plants can grow in one square foot (16, believe it or not) and so on. The kids got their plans drawn out and we started opening seed packets. We started 50 pods tonight…that is 50 chances to succeed. Galatians 6:9 says not to grow weary, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Of course that had nothing to do with actual plants, but I am holding on to that promise tonight.