Wishful Window Farming

The other day, in a rare fit of green thumb disease, I bought a package of oregano seeds and another of poppy.  I think I was inspired by the growing experiments we have been doing at school with my first graders.  Their runner beans were running amok and we had to send them home.  I missed inspecting the jungle each morning. So I bought my own seeds.

Here’s what I was envisioning…

Now, my family will tell you that any plants that survive my care must be extra hardy. But I keep trying. I read the instructions and sprinkled the oregano in one pot and the poppies in another. My oregano has sprouted but seems stunted at just under 1 cm high. The poppy seeds, however, are going to town and are probably way too crowded in their makeshift planter. That inspired me. I would get a big planter to hang on the rail outside our French doors. I would grow things! I’d have my own personal jungle!

So I went to the plant store. I looked at planters of all kinds. I looked at dirt. I looked at seedlings.  I looked at the myriad kinds of seeds. Are you aware of how many varieties of just green beans there are? And I could find nary a difference between all the names and descriptions. It was the same with peas (I had gotten adventurous in spirit and envisioned quite a garden for the space and supplies available.).

In the end, I came home with one packet of wildflowers. I was just too overwhelmed by choice.  I have spread them in yet another makeshift planter and I watch hourly for some sign of life. I think there is one runner bean left at school which I might bring home for the joy of watching something grow before my eyes.

Here’s the equivalent of what I’ve got so far.