Off to a great start! Or not!

I've always enjoyed gardening. Everywhere I've lived, when summer rolls around I'm in the backyard, or the community garden, planting vegetables.

I've also never been very good at gardening.

Oh, I've read books - stacks of books! Oodles of books! I've done research on-line. I made careful plans - this year I even used graph paper. Nothing says careful planning like graph paper! I ordered organic, heirloom seeds from the wonderful Seed Savers Exchange, made (and revised) elaborate garden plans, and started my seeds indoors about a month ago.

plans, beautiful plans

That's where it all started to go wrong.

For example, this is what my eggplants are supposed to look like:

And this is what my poor eggplants look like today:

That little sprout on the far left hasn't grown a millimeter in weeks! I've been faithfully taking the sprouts in at night, then moving them to the back steps so they can soak up the sun during the day. And this is how they repay me.

That big eggplant sprout really is turning brown, and I have no idea why. I think it's being eaten by tiny black bugs that hopped on over from my cucumber sprouts, which also look to be on death's door:

(yes, they're in a hanging basket - wouldn't it be cool to have cucumbers in a hanging basket? Maybe someday I'll find out!)

So, yes, ten years of gardening experience and my plants are dying before they've even been planted!


Good thing we have a Farmer's Market!