Not a green thumb—but a little bit of red

As you may remember, there is now a modest little garden growing on the rusted metal of my fire escape. It is just a few plants, but it’s an experiment to see if these plants could survive out there.

Well I am happy to report the first signs of success. Little red peppers have grown on the pepper plant. They are small, but they are read and they’re growing! I am going to let them grow for a while longer, but soon I may actually be able to eat them.

I don’t know that I quite ready to become a professional gardener. Apparently there is a company in San Francisco that will come over to your house and plant a garden for you. This puts new meaning to locally grown food! This company plants, maintains, and harvests your garden for you, leaving a box of fresh, organic vegetables for you when they’re finished.

No, my fire escape garden doesn’t qualify me for that job. I don’t think, based on the evidence of a few small peppers, that anyone will be paying me to the caretaker of their garden, which is unfortunate because I’m sure they are charging a hefty fee for this service.

And while I am being honest here, I must admit that the pepper plant seems to be thriving in spite of, and not because of, my care. Take the tomato plants, growing inches from the peppers. No tomatoes have appeared on the plants, and frankly it doesn’t look like any are on their way. Despite careful watering and enough direct sunlight to make any sunbather jealous, the tomatoes haven’t sprouted.

So maybe I still don’t have a green thumb yet. But I’m happy that a couple of red peppers are growing, and at least I planted them myself, right?