Perhaps I should just give up. I will forever have to buy my vegetables. If the apocalypse comes, I better be good friends with a farmer or two. I can cook. I can preserve. But don’t depend on me to grow.
Every year, I try to grow something in my huge backyard. Every year, it all fails. I’ve composted. I’ve planted in the ground, in pots, and this year, we went all out and built a raised bed. I bought good, organic soil to put in it. I researched and bought seeds for plants that love to grow in our autumn climate.
Things are growing. But according to the charts, some of what I planted should be nearly ready to harvest. But nothing is more than an inch high out there. The spinach is supposed to be ready next week. Yet they aren’t even at the “baby spinach leaves” stage. I can see the leaves without a magnifying glass, but gee.
Beets and cabbage are supposed to be nearly ready too, but it’s the same story. I’m confused about it, too. These tiny bits of life poked up a few weeks ago, but if they growing at all, it’s at a rate that can’t be measured. The cabbage shows the most promise, but that’s not saying much.
I’ll give them more time, sure. Like baseball, it ain’t over till it’s over. As long as there’s life, there’s hope. That kind of thing.
This is so discouraging.
Marlene Dotterer 
So sorry, Marlene! I have definitely found that there’s a mystery to growing veggies. I’ve bought plants that all looked healthy, and some thrived while others did not. I had a gorgeous garden last year until the unprecedented heat and drought wiped it all out. This year I’ve struggled because I’m in a new climate and haven’t quite figured out the calendar…but I’m addicted, so I keep going.
I have luck with some things and not others. Green beans grow spectacularly in my garden, but green peas get infested with tiny bugs inside the pod (disgusting!). And I tried to grow pumpkins this year. The plants grew well enough, and flowered, but didn’t make a single pumpkin! I have no idea why. You might try green beans, since I find those to be easy, although I have a neighbor who can’t get them to grow at all. Go figure.
I have the blackest thumbs on either side of the Mississippi, so just the fact that your plants are alive makes you a better gardener than I will ever be!
I too have black thumbs except for when it comes to weeds and anything opportunistic. I have some kind of lush gourd overtaking my my compost and delicious dandelions everywhere. Since I don’t use any chemicals and they’re growing away from the road, the dandelion leaves go right into my salad (after washing, of course). Happily, my neighbor two doors down farms on the side and I’ve had the freshest corn, tomatoes, summer & winter squash, cukes, etc. all summer.