If at first you don’t succeed…

…try, try again.

That’s where we’re at right now. This is the first time in a number of years that we’ve had the opportunity and space to do a bit of gardening. We’ve both been planting some things, hoping to enjoy the fruits of our labours later in the season.

John’s planted nasty urchins (that’s what he calls nasturtiums) and has put together a hanging basket with geraniums, lobelia and, when they come up, nasturtiums. I’ve been planting herbs, lettuce, spinach and green beans.

This is where the lack of success comes in. John got some corn gluten from work. It’s used to inhibit weeds in the lawns by preventing germination. He mixed it in to some potting soil, added some fertilizer and distributed it between the pots we have. He also threw some in the small garden bed outside the back door, where I planted lettuce and spinach. I used the same soil for starting the seeds. Did you catch that?

It’s used to inhibit weeds by preventing germination. Yup. None of my seeds came up. These were seeded two weeks ago and have been kept primarily indoors. They should have sprouted by now.

So, last week I tried again with different soil. However, when John asked where I’d taken the soil from, he reminded me that it also had the corn gluten in it.

And so, this morning, I had to start all over again.