A gardener has released a Reel pleading with gardeners not to make this simple mistake.
April Ruis (@aprilsunrisefarm), who has "Eat What You Grow" written on her Instagram page, tells her viewers that she "made a mistake last year, and it's still haunting me to the day."
The scoop
In the video, Ruis stands in her garden explaining how she made the mistake of throwing a piece of dead mint that "was lifeless and kind of looked like a stick" into her compost pile.
The gardening Instagrammer says she "absolutely knew better" but made the mistake because "it was a long hot day."
She goes on to show how what was once her compost pile is now a sea of mint plants.
Mint plants are perennials, or plants that continue growing after two years. They are well known for their famously fresh and spicy scent. They also grow quickly and can spread quite aggressively.
How it's helping
Although the Reel is based around a simple gardening mistake, it teaches gardeners — and those who aspire to take up this activity — certain lessons, including what you shouldn't toss into your compost pile.
Overall, gardening can be rewarding for numerous reasons. The most obvious reason is long-term financial savings, since growing your own food saves you that regular trip to the store.
According to Investopedia, "one pound of organic tomatoes from Whole Foods costs as of July 2021 $2.99, but a package of organic, heirloom tomato seeds can yield multiple tomato plants over time, costs $3.99."
For more perspective, you can get 10 pounds to 30 pounds of tomatoes from just one plant.
Beyond the savings, there are other benefits as well.
Growing your own food avoids the environmental problems associated with packaging, such as the use of plastics, which comes with a host of environmental problems.
Gardening also requires exercise, which is beneficial to our health, plus being surrounded by plants can boost our well-being.
What everyone's saying
"As soon as you said the word mint I thought oh noooooo not in the compost pile. You never know if those suckers are truly dead, lol," one commenter expressed.
Another explained, "I like to plant mint around my trees as a living mulch. I can mow it to keep it in bounds and we don't have to weedeat there because the mint chokes out everything."
Another commenter brought some humor into the picture by adding how now "it's a good smelling compost pile!"
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