Planting Organic Veggies *groan*

There is nothing more organic than growing your own veggies (unless the seeds are genetically modified or you ply the crop or soil with chemicals!)  Hubby sent me a link [do you think he's trying to say something? you'll see what I mean later] which boldly tells us how easy it is to grow our own veggies in containers or in a garden with very little hassle. Hmmmm reading further down into the comments I find a lot of people are poo-pooing how easy it actually is, although to be fair, I don't really have a squirrel problem here!

12 fastest vegetables to grow in home gardens and containers for the first time

Ok the author has a point, it does look pretty easy and to be honest we have had some success before with tomatoes and herbs. So I'm going to "out" myself and show you what my herb garden looks like currently DON'T JUDGE ME!!! *shameful face* I'm sure that's why Hubby sent me the abovementioned link.

Exhibit A shows I have a beautiful lemon tree planted in the middle and on the left hand side are the remains of the wooden "trellis-type" poles which Hubby constructed when he planted tomatoes - we actually had a bumper crop that year.

Exhibit A

In Exhibit B you can see that I planted mint and lemon balm and the mint went crazy. I took the advice of a gardening friend, to plant mint in separate containers and then plant the containers in order to curb the root system taking over the entire herb garden, but the mint still took over! Maybe the trick is to use hanging containers so they can't spread. Some herbs, especially good-smelling ones look and smell great planted amongst your other plants BUT NOT MINT!! It will take over your whole garden!! As you can see, there is an upturned plastic container that has been living in my herb garden for a few weeks and when I turned it over, there was actually mint growing underneath it! I think mint is stronger than Chuck Norris!!

Exhbit B

In Exhibit C, the best results I'm getting seem to be OUTSIDE the herb garden! This basil plant is thriving on the gravel between the pavers! Shows how little attention you need to pay to growing basil! Although some really good advice about basil if you want to use it as a herb, is to remove the flowers because they seem to suck out all the good taste from the leaves! But obviously if you're growing it for the flowers (darn boring-looking flowers) then they smell awesome! Also a great tip with basil is to plant it close to where you've planted tomatoes because the tomatoes take on the taste of the basil! Just add mozzarella and you've got Caprese without the hassle!

Exhibit C

On the upside my lemon tree has grown well and although it has had some issues, it has borne great lemons for us to use and for the kids to play with and squeeze and make revolting homemade lemonade.

Exhibit D

So I am going to pledge to sort out this veggie garden once and for all! Pain and fatigue will not be an excuse, laziness will not be a factor, homegrown produce, healthy eating and fun will be the reason for my new challenge. "They" say that children eat veggies more often if they plant and harvest them themselves, so I will test out this theory. Now, what needs to be planted in Autumn for a bumper crop in Winter?  Hmmmm better get to work!

Anyone keen to start their own with me? Even in a container, I need some moral support! Now don't all shout at once ;)