My Not-So Green Thumb

Until I moved here, I didn't have living things, beside me, guests and the occasional bug, in my apartments. I lived on campus for six years (no, that is not a typo) so we weren't allowed to have anything but fish. Well, now that I'm thinking about it, I did briefly have a fish in Charleston that I won in some sort of carnival game but he jumped out of the bowl. Sad day. Anyways, other than that ill fated attempt at life, I didn't have pets or plants in my home. There are both in my parents' home and throughout my memories, we had multiple pets. We still do. Moving on...

When I (finally) moved off campus and came here, I was super excited to experience home ownership. I bought a little condo with a little yard and couldn't wait to get some plants and a little dog. Dog: check. She's a tough cookie. After surviving life on a farm with long hair, two car run-ins (or over-s, I suppose), a coyote attack and a horse kick, life with me is a breeze. She's almost seven years old now so she's fine with a morning walk, sleeping in her chair all day, afternoon walk, dinner and an evening walk. Very low maintenance. One would think that after mastering the art of dog care, I could manage to keep a plant alive.

One would be wrong.

I've gone through several plants, indoor and outdoor, and have not managed to keep anything alive for more than two months. Some of the plants that have met an untimely end when matched with my "green" thumb include, but are not limited to: cilantro, rosemary, basil, parsley, thyme, dill, and various flowers. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I have since given up on my gardening, stacked my pots to one side and closed the potting soil (even though I have a cute trowel, gloves and knee pad). The only thing I've managed to partially maintain would be the grass that was already established in my mini-backyard. In the interest of full blog disclosure, however, I'll say that there a) is a sprinkler system on a timer and controlled by the HOA and b) brown spots in the yard.

So, imagine my surprise when I went out the check on the progress of the brown spots and discovered two non-grass plants happily growing in my yard and receiving no help from me at all. I was almost mad about it but then I figured, hey, I have a pumpkin vine and a basil plant so whatevs. Where did I get a pumpkin vine? Why, from pumpkin carving, of course! My wonderful friend from grad school, Jessica, hosted a pumpkin carving both years we were in Athens. When I moved here, I shamelessly pilfered the idea and we had a ton of fun. If you've ever carved a pumpkin, you know they're messy so clearly some seeds ended up landing, and thriving, in my yard. I kindly weedeated (or weed-ate? I'm not sure. My yard's too small for an actual mower) around it. The basil? No clue. Maybe some of it jumped out of the pot I had it sitting in. Maybe it just sensed my desire for fresh basil. Who cares? It's there now and I pulled the weeds (which are actually the grass that's supposed to be growing in the yard) around it but have not watered it because I'm so clearly not a gardener.