Light green thumb...

I can say most of my childhood was spent in a garden - grandma and grandpa had a massive garden.

If we weren't pulling weeds we were plucking ripe tomatoes from the vine, snapping beans and shucking corn. Like many other activities in my lifetime this 'built character'.

It may have built character, but I can honestly say I have no desire to have a garden of that magnitude. However, I do like tinkering outside, so when I moved into the new place I decided to put together a little patio garden. It's on concrete, it has few critters and if it fails I am only out about $75.

This is my patio garden, about three weeks in. The middle pot was my very first attempt, the two turvy's are the second round. I have strawberries (in the red) and tomatoes in the green.

This is where I can make a recommendation. The strawberry version of the Topsy Turvy is a little sketchy. If you notice the white areas on the piece, those are pieces of rags I have shoved in the holes. I should explain why the holes are empty in the first place. I didn't want to buy that many plants if they were all going to die. Big mistake. I should have filled it up and now it's a little late. Without the rags, dirt pours out of the unplugged holes when watered. It's gross, so I plugged the holes. Now it just looks weird. The tomatoes, on the other hand, have been doing pretty good.

I also decided to try a strawberry pot. These little plants don't look as hot, but to be honest I think I'm drowning them. I didn't know you could over water plants like this, but it's obvious you can.

I was afraid they would dry up, but to be honest I might have to let them dry up so maybe they will perk up just a little bit. They do have a few budding berries that have started to come along - so there is promise.

My lack of green thumb is baffling, considering I spent the first two and a half years of my professional career working in the plant industry. My job as a molecular genetics research assistant was to grow plants. I still don't know how I didn't starve - looking at this display of gardening.

To my defense I had several resources at my disposal at that time. I was growing things in a greenhouse, I started all my plants in nutrient rich, gel filled petri dishes and I made a special mix of soil. This garden didn't have any of those elements.

Although the patio garden hasn't been a complete flop. Here is the lone strawberry I have produced. Hopefully the next picture will have more than one.

So apparently a smidgen of grandma's green thumb must have rubbed off on me after spending all those days surrounded by vegetables. Not only did it build a little character, it built me a lone little strawberry too.