30 Funny Harvests That Prove Mother Nature Has Some Funny Tricks Up Her Sleeve

Modern homesteader and gardening enthusiast Lindy Ly of Garden Betty tells Bored Panda that her most memorable garden fail involved tomatoes. "I didn't realize the effect that extreme heat can have on tomato plants," she remembers.

"We had a severe heat wave one summer that lasted a few weeks, and most of my tomatoes started dropping flowers. After that year, I learned to cover my plants with shade cloth in peak summer to protect the pollen," she adds.

Linda believes that failing and making mistakes is the best way to learn in the garden. Even if your harvest was less than impressive, she encourages you not to lose faith and keep at it. After all, with every mistake, you learn something new. "It's always worth trying again with the new insights you've gained!" Linda believes.

The Mighty Harvest subreddit is for gardeners to boast their hilariously small yet wholesome gardening results. But, in general, the average garden enthusiast in the U.S. grows $600 dollars worth of food. The most popular veggie in American gardens is, interestingly, the tomato (though, I hear, it's technically a fruit?)

There are some interesting statistics on gardeners as well. Apparently, the majority of green thumbs in the U.S. are gentlemen: 56.4% of gardeners say they're men, and only 43.6% are women. The average gardener's age is also somewhat surprising: it's not just grandmas working in their gardens. Most enthusiasts are between 35 and 44 years old.

Being a good gardener is like an art. You have to know which plants like the shade and which prefer the sun, which veggies grow better when they're next to each other and which ones can't ever get along, and that you can never plant mint seeds directly into the ground if you don't want that monster overgrowing onto everything else in your herb garden.

Mistakes happen, but beginners, naturally, make more mistakes than seasoned gardeners. So, let's explore some of the most common mistakes veggie growers can make in their first years as green thumbs. 

A good place to start is to pay attention to the food you're giving your plants. Many experts say that good soil is the key to a healthy and productive garden. A great soil is nutrient-rich and has air pockets, and some enthusiasts prefer to make their own. Nicole Burke of Gardenary uses topsoil, sand for drainage, and the magic ingredient – compost (mushroom is, in her opinion, the best).

Some other things beginner gardeners should pay attention to are the plant's season and in what climate it grows best. Novices often fail to understand that not every veggie that is in the supermarket grows year-round naturally. So, read the seed packet and check when it's best to plant it in your climate.

Just like humans, plants need food, but they also need water. Finding a balance between too much and too little can be hard, though. Signs of overwatering include yellowing leaves, wilting, edema, mold and algae, and rot. Underwatered plants will have dry, brown edges, they'll droop, their leaves will be dropping, and the soil will be hard and compacted.

Seasoned gardeners also advise to use mulch. In short, you should keep your soil covered if you want to avoid erosion, runoff, and compaction. Exposed soil surfaces dry out and make it harder for water and nutrients to penetrate it. It can also help prevent the growing of weeds, as the mulch prevents weed seeds from getting sunlight, which they need to germinate.

When you're starting your gardener's journey, you might get overexcited and try biting off more than you can chew. Expert gardeners recommend starting small: list five of your favorite herbs and veggies, research them, and work on getting the best harvest out of them. Next year, add a couple more and go from there.

If you want your garden to be as natural and eco-friendly as possible, work on a wildlife-friendly and pesticide-free garden. Australia-based gardener and author Casey Lister urges other gardeners to ditch insecticides, pesticides, and fungicides and invite predatory insects, birds, lizards, and frogs. "Ladybirds devour aphids, birds munch on caterpillars, frogs eat snails and slugs," she explains.

In the end, failing is a big part of gardening. You observe and learn new things, that's how you become a better gardener. As Abra Lee, director of horticulture at Atlanta’s Oakwood Cemetery and Gardens, told WaPo's Cynthia R. Greenlee, "The garden will always defeat you." In other words, nature will always nature. 

Let this list of harvesting fails not discourage you from your gardening endeavors, green thumb Pandas. Instead, may it inspire you to start planning your first mini garden. Whether you start with a few herbs or feel confident enough to tackle tomatoes or peas, don't forget to share your plans with us in the comments! And if you want to see more pics of hilariously bad harvests, head over here, here, here, and here!