Stymied by a Packet of Seeds - Again!

I have planted a garden the majority of the years I've been - or pretended to be - an adult. I have successfully planted everything from asparagus to zucchini. But for the past 2 years I've succumbed to a tiny bag of seeds that sound great but cause me sleepless nights and an upset stomach. Those evil seeds are called - Spring Mix.

I know what Spring Mix looks like in a plastic container in the grocery store. I love the variety of salad leaves I munch on as I feel myself getting healthier. Why spend big bucks on those buckets when I can grow my own in my pesticide free garden? I found a packet of seeds and planted them in the row next to my tomatoes. Perfect combination - grab some "mix" and some tomatoes and dinner is served!

Soon the seeds started sprouting and I had to wipe the drool from the corner of my mouth as I showered the plants with water. Then I saw dreaded weeds also sprouting. I could no longer tell the Spring Mix from the weed mix, except for some leaves that looked like spinach. The rest were a mystery to me. I did get the courage to pick a bunch of "mix" and make a salad but I couldn't help but feel that it didn't taste as good as the grocery store variety did. I had no idea which were edible and which might be potential poison to me. I decided that it wasn't worth taking the risk and just let whatever was growing, continue to grow, but not be eaten. I even went back to the grocery store to get more Spring Mix and took it to my garden trying to match up the leaves. Too many were similar but I didn't feel that the matches were precise enough to eat.

This year, I bought a kit of containers and seeds. The seeds consisted of tomatoes, yellow beans and - Spring Mix! What is with seed packagers? Do they just find a bunch of seeds that didn't make it into other packages and dump them together? Is this a way to add humor to an otherwise dull seed-filled work day?

I decided that the only way to grow Spring Mix was to grow it in a large container. Then everything that comes up in the container should be edible. Wrong! I realized that weed seeds seem to fly through the air and land where ever they darn well please. And if they want to land in the Spring Mix container, so be it. So, once again I recognize a spinach like leaf (is it really spinach?) The rest is a mystery. I do recognize one weed since it covers most of my yard but some of the other things look a bit like tomato plants. If they are tomato plants, are the leaves of the plant edible? Once again, I am letting what ever wants to grow in my Spring Mix container enjoy my tender loving care until they die - uneaten.

I have promised myself that no matter what the incentive, next year's garden will only include heads of lettuce - not as healthy but easily recognizable. Fool me once, OK twice - and whoever laughs last will be me.