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30 Times People Attempted To Grow Their Own Food, But The Results Were Hilariously Disappointing
In times of the worldwide pandemic, many people turned to urban gardening, which, in times of crisis, became something that promotes fun, well-being, and environmental protection. People started buying plants in bulk while millennials saw it as a way to deal with their mental health and find some inner piece.
Some people didn’t just stop with plants. Growing something nutritious and tasty became another trend with more and more backyards and balconies turned into little lands for harvesting.
Tomatoes, peppers, apples… nothing seemed impossible. Until you actually started growing them. Turns out, the reality of what you harvest does not always meet the expectations that you planted and when it doesn't, it most likely ends up on this corner of Reddit known as “Mighty Harvest.”
Below we wrapped up some of the funniest gardening and harvesting fails!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I Saved Watermelon Seeds From Last Year And Grew My Own Watermelons!
RELATED:
#2
My Corn (1) Is Doing Great
#3
Very Large Harvest. Very Small Dog
If you have noticed more and more young people getting into gardening recently, you’re not the only one. In fact, savvy millennials who want to know where the food on their plate is coming from have set a new ‘grow your own’ trend.
In Ireland, for example, a study that looked into the trend of buying herbs, fruit and vegetables for planting found that the market boomed to €19 million in 2019. Meanwhile, the horticultural market in Ireland is worth €795m according to the 2018 figures, compared to €729m in 2016 and €516m in 2011.
#4
My Pear Tree, One Yearly Perfect Pear, No Leaves And 4 Feet Tall. My Mom Made Sure To Send Me A Picture Because I’m Not Home This Fall
#5
With These Peppers, I Shall Spice A Thousand Dishes!
#6
My Mighty Pineapple (Apple For Scale. I Was Out Of Bananas)
The same tendency is observed in other countries around the globe. The 2021 National Gardening Association study showed that the Covid pandemic created 18.3 million new gardeners in the US, most of whom are millennials. Results found that gardening activities raised significantly at every garden experience level.
Experts believe that the millennial love for gardening is tied to movements of self-care and wellness. Since many young people don’t have access to an outdoor space as the majority of working millennials live in urban spaces, bringing plants, fruits and veggies inside seems like an appealing solution.
#7
Would Anyone Like Some Lemon Water?
#8
Just In Time For Halloween, The Tiniest Jack O’lantern
#9
Three And A Half Months Delivered This Beast Just In Time For Our Village’s Annual Easter Feast
Patrick Whittington 1 year ago
Im not even being ironic when I say my new life mission is to live in a village that has Easter feasts...
But if you've ever tried indoor gardening yourself, you know it’s not as easy as it looks. The harvest comes down to the tiniest details–from sun to humidity and just the right amount of shade. So it’s best to start from growing something simple, like herbs.
The experts at MiracleGro remind gardening aficionados to harvest often to encourage bushy growth. For herbs like mint, basil, cilantro, and dill, snip a few inches from the top of each stem, cutting right above a set of leaves. You can also harvest full stems from the outside of the plant by cutting a half-inch above the plant’s base.
Meanwhile, for herbs like oregano, parsley, sage, and thyme, choose long stems with few leaves. Snip chives at the base of the plant, about an inch above the soil. With sage and mint, you can also skip the cutting and simply pinch off individual leaves.
#10
I Am So Proud Of My Chili. She Did Her Best
#11
My Cart Will Definitely Feed A Whole Village!
#12
Ready To Begin Harvesting. Need Advice On Canning
Mickysixxx 1 year ago
Hahaha that's the saddest tomato plant I've ever seen😥. I've seen happier ones growing in the cracks of footpaths, thriving ones in fact lol
#13
Took Me Hours To Slice This Baby Up. Hopefully This Should End Global Hunger. Hand And Chinese Chef Knife For Reference
Eva the Egg 1 year ago
omg thats actually so cool... its split up into all the little parts and everything
#14
Tonight We Feast On Potatoes!
Mickysixxx 1 year ago
Grow them in a tub and when the plant gets a couple of feet high add another bottomless tub on top, fill with soil until about 30cm of the plant is above. Repeat for a while and when you harvest you'll have a potato rope
#15
Two Years Of Waiting For Our One And Only Lemon
#16
In Six Months I Was Able To Turn One Clove Of Garlic Into One Clove Of Garlic With A Stem
#17
This Is My Harvest From 3 Different Potato Plants. Don’t Worry, They Tasted Terrible Too
#18
This Should Sustain Us Through The Winter
Deborah Harris2 1 year ago
They look like yellow ticks don't they? urgh!!
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Seabeast 1 year ago
Pollination problems. Corn needs to be grown in clumps, rather than rows. It's pollinated by wind, so you have to make sure the spot isn't too sheltered as well.
Tuna Beach 1 year ago
Can also be hand pollinated, as thousands of former Iowa teenagers can attest.
Load More Replies...
Old Roadie 1 year ago (edited)
...or huitlacoche. That's how I learned Missouri farmers do not consider it a delicacy. Ahem.
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GreythatEnby 1 year ago
For some reason I read this as "This Should be Enough to Sustain the U.S Through the Winter" which makes it more sarcastic.
MAKtheknife 1 year ago
Makes me feel good that we don't have to depend on our own agriculture to feed ourselves.
JACOB CHRISTOPHER 1 year ago
this was simply harvested to early just because it looks like it does when driving by doesn't mean its fully grown. it can take up to 5 months for corn to develop enough to be called food
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Well, that's just a pollination issue. My first crop was covered in huitlacoche, a fungus considered a delicacy in Mexico... not Missouri ...and not in the midst of a thousand acres of Missouri corn fields. Took it to local Ag Supply and the guy almost fainted. Finally croaked out "Burn it! Burn all of it!"
#19
It Only Cost Me $200 To Grow These
#20
Time To Make Strawberry Jam For My Neighbours
#21
Such A Plentiful Harvest I Shall Have To Gift Some To Family & Friends
#22
When Life Gives You Lemons…
#23
A Year's Worth Of Hard Work
#24
Just Harvested An Entire Bag Of Lays Chips Worth Of Potato!
#25
Time To Make Some Scallion Pancakes
#26
The Rains Have Blessed Us With Some Sweet Mangos
A_Cat_To_The_Past 1 year ago
Well I would still do anything for mangoes, even if they were that size
#27
Jumping On The Tiny Chilli Pepper Bandwagon With The Only Carolina Reaper I Managed To Grow This Year
#28
Guess What I Will Have For My Salad
#29
Pepper Growing Expert Here — Ama!
Mickysixxx 1 year ago (edited)
That bush is gonna struggle lol although I can see a couple of buds. If you cut the chilli off the leaves will grow (maybe, chillies are pretty hardy) cut any flowers off so the bush puts all its energy into growing branches and leaves. And water properly, make sure all the soil is soaked not just the surface or that the water is just running down the side of the pot instead of soaking in.
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What do you think ?
Kate Jones 1 year ago
I was going to post the same thing. Like...apparently they're super magician wizards or something.
Load More Replies...
EmBree 1 year ago
This is why those "just grow your own food, it's easy" people make my skin crawl. Especially when they suggest that people living in apartments can grow their way out of food poverty.
Bored Retsuko 1 year ago
Yes! Exactly what I was thinking. Should save this post and use it as a reply to those, lol.
Load More Replies...
The Original Bruno 1 year ago (edited)
Growing up as a kid, we had strawberry plants and tons of rabbits. That meant tons of strawberry-seed-laden bunny turds all over the yard (tiny and dry, so not messy). That meant strawberry plants trying to grow among the regularly mown grass. We'd get these tiny little strawberries... no bigger than grains of rice. So tiny you COULDN'T try to eat them if you tried. Like the abundant clover, they'd attract big fat bumblebees which meant you'd have to wear shoes so you didn't get stung if you stepped on one. But I liked petting the bees, too.
Old Roadie 1 year ago
PETTING. THE. BEES. Now there's a phrase I've never heard before...
Load More Replies...
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
I tried growing my own veg in South Africa (read: sunny) and with lots of water, lots of space, and lots of good soil, and got similar results to the above (not quite as bad). Result: I now really really respect farmers.
Mickysixxx 1 year ago (edited)
I teach horticulture/Bush tuckers in a school. I have made a few of these mistakes at one stage lol growing stuff and pottering about your garden is one of life's joys, I hope all these people didn't get discouraged and still enjoy growing their own food.
V 1 year ago
Look, I've given up on tomatoes and chillies (even though they should be easy to grow in the climate I live in). Beans and basil seem to be my forte.
Load More Replies...
DuchessDegu 1 year ago
last year I planted carrots, cougettes, fennel, corn, basil and sunflowers, properly, by growing it in a greenhouse until big enough to plant outside, got new growing bags, compost, even netting to protect from birds. I harvested one courgette and a couple of sunflowers actually flowered but died so quickly there was no change to get the seeds. Everything else died. I blame the summer drought.
BakedKahuna 1 year ago
This brings back some memories when I used to grow plenty of veggies, fruits and flowers on the big balcony of my first flat. It looked so awesome, people came by to take pictures. Sometimes I would share some veggies when I had too much. I loved getting up early to enjoy the bees that were gathering in the lavender. My favourite memory is of a blackbird. I was hanging up some clothes in the sun to dry. It was just next to the table where I grew strawberries which I wanted to harvest after it. When I was done, I heard some bird sounds next to me. There he was. A blackbird with a beak with red juices dripping down. We stared at each other in surprise for a couple of seconds until he flew off. Needless to say, there were no strawberries to harvest anymore 😂😂😂 Now I have a big garden. But instead of growing stuff, I just enjoy sitting in the sun and watch the birds, butterflies, mice, hedgehogs and bees. BTW, it can really hurt if a hedgehog decides to bite your toe 😳
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Beautiful visual you've created ...right down to the hedgehog!
Load More Replies... Seabeast 1 year ago
My long term garden goal was to grow a cantaloupe melon. I live in a short growing climate, so I started the plants indoors, which is apparently not the best idea. But I finally got one in 2021. Just one small one, about 15cm/6" long. Plus two very tiny unripe versions. P1000776-6...1722f2.jpg 
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
The sweetest fruit I ever tasted were blueberries growing on the mountains of upstate New York. They grew in harsh, moisture-stripping wind in tiny pockets of soil among rockfaces, so they grew o so slowly and were o so tiny. But these little berries no bigger than mustard seeds had as much flavor and sweetness compressed in that tiny little berry as any big fat supermarket blueberry.
Seabeast 1 year ago
That often seems to be the way with fruit. I have some tiny tomatoes that I've been taking cuttings from every fall to get through the winter indoors, because the flavour is so intense. Same with my sour cherry tree - the fruit is the only kind I use to make things like cherry pie because the big sweet cherries just go bland and flavourless when cooked.
Load More Replies...
The only Plueschopossum 1 year ago
All of my last year's harvest of grapes 😂 Phew! That was exhausting work! 20220817_2...d6d9a1.jpg 
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Grapes are hard work tho! It gets better as the plants age. Also: how do you make links so easily?
Load More Replies...
Jessica J. 1 year ago
There is a reason some people were farmers and somer are millers and some were thatchers and so on...because we all have talents and they are not all the same.
Abgr Xenda 1 year ago (edited)
none of them had used fertilisers, my first harvest from tomatoes, cucumber, and green bell pepper was the same in pictures, then second attempt I learn more about fertilisers, simply bring potatoes peels, banana's peels, and egg shells, add ¼ cup of water and mix with hand blender, until a black mixture will be formed, pour it in the pot before seeding, once the plant start to grow repeat the same process again and pour it around the plants, Be generous with the banana peels and egg shells, potatoes peels zucchini peels are a good addition, do you want a giant plants use peels from 5 oranges in South America they found it useful, I didn't have the chance to test it yet with orange, but it should be better than banana's peels edit: I have 1½ m² balcony in the 10th floor toward south
Kristal 1 year ago
How do tiny produce happen like this? Potatoes are crazy easy to grow, so I'd it soil issues? Watering too much/little? They are all adorable though.
Alison Hell 1 year ago
There are so many reasons why this could happen. Gardening can be challenging but also very rewarding.
Load More Replies...
A_Cat_To_The_Past 1 year ago (edited)
♪ Banana are you ok? So banana are you ok? Are you ok banana?♪
Nay Wilson 1 year ago
oh bless :-) this is definitely a case of points for effort. i'm loving the tiny plants though, they're so cute
Lyone Fein 1 year ago
From the looks of many of these, where we could see part of the plant or the soil, the poor results seemed to be due to under watering and not destroying various parasites.
Sue Ellen Jensen 1 year ago
Year before last I put granular fertilizer around all my plants when first planted. Everything grew so huge I didn't bother last summer and still had huge bounty. Seventy zucchini off one plant and buckets of tomatoes and peppers. I do put a bag of compost into each 4' x 8' raised bed and they have automatic sprinklers.
Load More Replies...
rumple slunkskin 1 year ago
Right before reading this I was looking at my collection of seeds, imagining my future luxurious garden. Thanks for the reality check lol
DC 1 year ago (edited)
I once had an olive tree. When I got it, it already had 12 little olives growing on it. These developed into actual olive size, and tasted awful, regardless of how I tried. Ok, maybe next year I'll get that right, with how long they shall be in salt water, how and when to add spices or transfer them into oil, ... next year, I got a huge growth. Of the tree itself. It got vacation at Grandma's, to be pollinated and stuff ... came back blooming like it was painted by van Gogh ... and all olives fell of at about a pea's size and the tree, slowly, degraded and faded into a dead stick. I consulted friends who are more experienced gardeners than I am, but to no avail, they either didn't know what to do, or predicted the tree's death. It died. I, since, have not tried again to grow olives, but as I love olives and recently found out I do in fact like painting, I may discover the same about gardning that exceeds keeping a cactus alive ... which, the hardest part of, is distracting some weird black furrish thing that walks around here like she owns the place ... but, she allows me in her bed, I'm not to complain too loud, hehehehe...
John L 1 year ago
Not to be a snob, but i've grown tomatoes, jalapenos and bell peppers without any issues. How do people grow such small produce? Are they doing only hydro grows or something?
Me 1 year ago
Seems I'm an expert at low-yield gardens. I did it with a lack of pollinators, poor soil, no regular fertilizing and harvesting too soon. Sun and water isn't enough, apparently.
Load More Replies...
Nocturnowl 1 year ago
Honestly none of that disappointed me to look at, although I'm sure the farmers, harvesters, whatever the term is, feel different. All the tiny fruits and veggies looked so cute 😍
Kate Jones 1 year ago
I was going to post the same thing. Like...apparently they're super magician wizards or something.
Load More Replies... EmBree 1 year ago
This is why those "just grow your own food, it's easy" people make my skin crawl. Especially when they suggest that people living in apartments can grow their way out of food poverty.
Bored Retsuko 1 year ago
Yes! Exactly what I was thinking. Should save this post and use it as a reply to those, lol.
Load More Replies... The Original Bruno 1 year ago (edited)
Growing up as a kid, we had strawberry plants and tons of rabbits. That meant tons of strawberry-seed-laden bunny turds all over the yard (tiny and dry, so not messy). That meant strawberry plants trying to grow among the regularly mown grass. We'd get these tiny little strawberries... no bigger than grains of rice. So tiny you COULDN'T try to eat them if you tried. Like the abundant clover, they'd attract big fat bumblebees which meant you'd have to wear shoes so you didn't get stung if you stepped on one. But I liked petting the bees, too.
Old Roadie 1 year ago
PETTING. THE. BEES. Now there's a phrase I've never heard before...
Load More Replies... censorshipsucks 1 year ago
I tried growing my own veg in South Africa (read: sunny) and with lots of water, lots of space, and lots of good soil, and got similar results to the above (not quite as bad). Result: I now really really respect farmers.
Mickysixxx 1 year ago (edited)
I teach horticulture/Bush tuckers in a school. I have made a few of these mistakes at one stage lol growing stuff and pottering about your garden is one of life's joys, I hope all these people didn't get discouraged and still enjoy growing their own food.
V 1 year ago
Look, I've given up on tomatoes and chillies (even though they should be easy to grow in the climate I live in). Beans and basil seem to be my forte.
Load More Replies... DuchessDegu 1 year ago
last year I planted carrots, cougettes, fennel, corn, basil and sunflowers, properly, by growing it in a greenhouse until big enough to plant outside, got new growing bags, compost, even netting to protect from birds. I harvested one courgette and a couple of sunflowers actually flowered but died so quickly there was no change to get the seeds. Everything else died. I blame the summer drought.
BakedKahuna 1 year ago
This brings back some memories when I used to grow plenty of veggies, fruits and flowers on the big balcony of my first flat. It looked so awesome, people came by to take pictures. Sometimes I would share some veggies when I had too much. I loved getting up early to enjoy the bees that were gathering in the lavender. My favourite memory is of a blackbird. I was hanging up some clothes in the sun to dry. It was just next to the table where I grew strawberries which I wanted to harvest after it. When I was done, I heard some bird sounds next to me. There he was. A blackbird with a beak with red juices dripping down. We stared at each other in surprise for a couple of seconds until he flew off. Needless to say, there were no strawberries to harvest anymore 😂😂😂 Now I have a big garden. But instead of growing stuff, I just enjoy sitting in the sun and watch the birds, butterflies, mice, hedgehogs and bees. BTW, it can really hurt if a hedgehog decides to bite your toe 😳
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Beautiful visual you've created ...right down to the hedgehog!
Load More Replies... Seabeast 1 year ago
My long term garden goal was to grow a cantaloupe melon. I live in a short growing climate, so I started the plants indoors, which is apparently not the best idea. But I finally got one in 2021. Just one small one, about 15cm/6" long. Plus two very tiny unripe versions. P1000776-6...1722f2.jpg
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
The sweetest fruit I ever tasted were blueberries growing on the mountains of upstate New York. They grew in harsh, moisture-stripping wind in tiny pockets of soil among rockfaces, so they grew o so slowly and were o so tiny. But these little berries no bigger than mustard seeds had as much flavor and sweetness compressed in that tiny little berry as any big fat supermarket blueberry.
Seabeast 1 year ago
That often seems to be the way with fruit. I have some tiny tomatoes that I've been taking cuttings from every fall to get through the winter indoors, because the flavour is so intense. Same with my sour cherry tree - the fruit is the only kind I use to make things like cherry pie because the big sweet cherries just go bland and flavourless when cooked.
Load More Replies... The only Plueschopossum 1 year ago
All of my last year's harvest of grapes 😂 Phew! That was exhausting work! 20220817_2...d6d9a1.jpg
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Grapes are hard work tho! It gets better as the plants age. Also: how do you make links so easily?
Load More Replies... Jessica J. 1 year ago
There is a reason some people were farmers and somer are millers and some were thatchers and so on...because we all have talents and they are not all the same.
Abgr Xenda 1 year ago (edited)
none of them had used fertilisers, my first harvest from tomatoes, cucumber, and green bell pepper was the same in pictures, then second attempt I learn more about fertilisers, simply bring potatoes peels, banana's peels, and egg shells, add ¼ cup of water and mix with hand blender, until a black mixture will be formed, pour it in the pot before seeding, once the plant start to grow repeat the same process again and pour it around the plants, Be generous with the banana peels and egg shells, potatoes peels zucchini peels are a good addition, do you want a giant plants use peels from 5 oranges in South America they found it useful, I didn't have the chance to test it yet with orange, but it should be better than banana's peels edit: I have 1½ m² balcony in the 10th floor toward south
Kristal 1 year ago
How do tiny produce happen like this? Potatoes are crazy easy to grow, so I'd it soil issues? Watering too much/little? They are all adorable though.
Alison Hell 1 year ago
There are so many reasons why this could happen. Gardening can be challenging but also very rewarding.
Load More Replies... A_Cat_To_The_Past 1 year ago (edited)
♪ Banana are you ok? So banana are you ok? Are you ok banana?♪
Nay Wilson 1 year ago
oh bless :-) this is definitely a case of points for effort. i'm loving the tiny plants though, they're so cute
Lyone Fein 1 year ago
From the looks of many of these, where we could see part of the plant or the soil, the poor results seemed to be due to under watering and not destroying various parasites.
Sue Ellen Jensen 1 year ago
Year before last I put granular fertilizer around all my plants when first planted. Everything grew so huge I didn't bother last summer and still had huge bounty. Seventy zucchini off one plant and buckets of tomatoes and peppers. I do put a bag of compost into each 4' x 8' raised bed and they have automatic sprinklers.
Load More Replies... rumple slunkskin 1 year ago
Right before reading this I was looking at my collection of seeds, imagining my future luxurious garden. Thanks for the reality check lol
DC 1 year ago (edited)
I once had an olive tree. When I got it, it already had 12 little olives growing on it. These developed into actual olive size, and tasted awful, regardless of how I tried. Ok, maybe next year I'll get that right, with how long they shall be in salt water, how and when to add spices or transfer them into oil, ... next year, I got a huge growth. Of the tree itself. It got vacation at Grandma's, to be pollinated and stuff ... came back blooming like it was painted by van Gogh ... and all olives fell of at about a pea's size and the tree, slowly, degraded and faded into a dead stick. I consulted friends who are more experienced gardeners than I am, but to no avail, they either didn't know what to do, or predicted the tree's death. It died. I, since, have not tried again to grow olives, but as I love olives and recently found out I do in fact like painting, I may discover the same about gardning that exceeds keeping a cactus alive ... which, the hardest part of, is distracting some weird black furrish thing that walks around here like she owns the place ... but, she allows me in her bed, I'm not to complain too loud, hehehehe...
John L 1 year ago
Not to be a snob, but i've grown tomatoes, jalapenos and bell peppers without any issues. How do people grow such small produce? Are they doing only hydro grows or something?
Me 1 year ago
Seems I'm an expert at low-yield gardens. I did it with a lack of pollinators, poor soil, no regular fertilizing and harvesting too soon. Sun and water isn't enough, apparently.
Load More Replies... Nocturnowl 1 year ago
Honestly none of that disappointed me to look at, although I'm sure the farmers, harvesters, whatever the term is, feel different. All the tiny fruits and veggies looked so cute 😍
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