It's that time of year again ... the time of year when I decide I can grow something and actually keep it alive.

I go through this every spring. And by August I have nothing to show for my good intentions and wishful thinking, except a few empty containers with sad, sorry, brown bits sticking out of them.

Not one to be detered, I'm trying again.

Today the kids and I planted tomatoes, peppers, and a variety of herbs.

The big red pots are actually plastic waste cans from Ikea. Rather than spending $10+ per container at Home Depot we drilled a few holes in the bottoms of these $1.99 containers. I couldn't be happier with the cheery results.



Our yard doesn't have good growing soil and neighbors who grow things well have had a tough time, so I thought the containers with good potting soil might have a better chance of success.

Last week, as a practice run for this potting and growing session I planted celery roots. I saw this idea on Pinterest and it certainly sounded easy peasy, and like a great source of instant gratification. See, here's an image from Farm Bell Recipes, just three days after planting:

Pretty cool, huh?

And here's proof positive that I can't grow things, not even easy peasy instant gratification things:


That's five days after planting. Nil. Nada. Zip.

I'm confident our container garden will be a raging success, regardless of how the celery is going! At least I hope so.

I found a composter on clearance at Home Depot last week and was able to use a gift card to pick it up. Apparently it takes a long time to compost stuff, but in the meantime we're having tons of fun tossing all sorts of crap into it. Perhaps if one has a composter their plants will think they're a master gardener? I'm sure.

No matter how the project turns out it's always fun to try.

What's in your garden this summer?