I will be the first to admit, I do not have a green thumb by any means. I’ve been successful at killing many plants because I forget to do things like water them. So why would you even read this post from me then? Well, assuming you may have similar issues, hopefully the things I do can be helpful to planting your own garden, even if it is just a simple potted vegetable garden.
As I have switched my eating habits over the past ten years, I’ve had more desire to have a vegetable garden because what’s more local than your own yard? I am to the point where I wish I could have a giant garden but I live in the city with a small yard and lots of trees so that’s a no-go.
Over the past ten years I tried multiple things to plant some herbs and veggies and every year, I would get like one tomato (seriously only one) and maybe a sprig or two of cilantro (literally that was it). I wasn’t always great at watering so I chalked up my lack of success to a brown thumb.
I realized my “garden” needed more sun and a boost.
When I say it needed a boost, I am not talking about fertilizer here. I am talking about a started plant. I kept trying to grow veggies from seed, which is not the easiest thing to do when you don’t have much sun and you forget to water from time to time. It is also difficult to do living in Minnesota because by the time it is warm enough to plant anything, it is almost winter by the time you get any veggies from it. Basically I’ve learned, don’t be a hero, buy a started plant. It makes it much easier.
My next bit of success came from finding sun. Ironically, the years when we started to get more veggies was when our boulevard trees were cut down so our front yard got more sun. It was a game changer and a total “duh” moment.
Another thing I’ve done is to get plants that are “idiot proof,” like hostas. Those things are almost impossible to kill, well unless you put a canoe on top of them….(learned that one this year). Assuming you aren’t putting canoes on top of your plants, you should be good. I also enjoy hydrangea’s as those seem to be rather hearty plants that won’t die over lack of watering or sunlight.
Since I have limited sun and space, I have a simple potted vegetable garden.
This way I can move my plants to where ever the sun is. It is also a good way to keep my plants organized because I may have forgotten what a planted where in an herb garden before…
Here are the vegetables I plant each year:
- Tomatoes (heirloom & cherry varieties)
- Green Bell Peppers
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Basil
- Thyme
- Lettuce
Out of all of those, I only start lettuce from seed because it is pretty easy to do. Only once did I plant it and it never came up, and I think that was due to old seeds. The other vegetables, I totally cheat and buy started plants.
Having a simple potted vegetable garden makes it more convenient to eat healthy
Veggies not only taste better when they are fresh from the garden, but there is some pride in knowing that you grew them yourself. Pick veggies that you like to eat or know that you use often.
One last thing I will mention is that gardens are great for kids. To teach them about growing plants (although somehow I got on the topic of photosynthesis with my 4 year old and that was not something easy to explain!). It is great for them to understand how food grows and all of the work needed to maintain it.
Do you have a garden? What do you plant?
