I have a brown thumb...

...but I can turn it green, right?

I've been feeling like a domestic failure lately. Okay, so I'm being overly dramatic. Let me back up and explain.

Compared to my college buddies, I'm the domestic goddess. I cook, I bake, I don't clean, but I knit and spin and collect recipes, sometimes (okay, rarely) even clip coupons, and I love shopping for housewares.

Compared to my Creepy Internet Friends, I'm soooo not a domestic anything, much less a goddess. Yes yes, I still cook, bake, knit, and all those other things I listed above. But I don't bake bread from scratch. In fact, I can't remember the last time I fed my sourdough starter (sorry, Petra! The good news - I just read about baking bread from neglected starter, so there's hope yet! I hope...). I don't make soup from scratch, I don't invent recipes that don't involve pasta, olive oil, and garlic. I don't participate in CSAs (I'm planning to; Red Wiggler, see you next year!). I certainly don't grow my own food. And here's where the brown thumb/green thumb/feeling like a failure comes into play.

In another month or so, G is moving out of the estrogen-filled environment that he calls home and into his own apartment. With a balcony. Woohoo! He's excited because he'll be able to read outside on his balcony; I'm excited because I'll get to have a small container garden on his balcony. (I'm also excited that he'll do the regular watering and everyday maintenance.)

So I asked the lovely Enablers Anonymous ladies for advice and suggestions about what to grow and how. And boy, were they ever helpful (as they always are)! I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, because I have to figure out when/how I can observe the daily sun exposure on that balcony (the current tenants haven't moved out yet) and which plants I want to grow (I'm thinking basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, rosemary, thyme, mint, and cherry tomatoes... Is that too much?) and how one takes care of them.

I've also learned a lot from my CIF. I've learned that starting seedlings from seeds is thriftiest, but I probably want to start with established plants this time and go from there. I've learned that mint is very aggressive and needs its own container. I've learned that I need to add some sort of polymer thingie to the potting mix since I'm not going to be taking care of the plants on a daily basis. (Though let's be honest - G is going to be much better at consistently watering those plants than I would be!)

So now I have to figure stuff out - and G has to move into the darn place - before I can acquire my precious, hope-to-keep-'em-alive babies (thanks, Tonya and Shelby for generously offering me some of your extras!). I've got a month or so, right? That's plenty of time to learn how to turn my brown thumb into green...