Sometimes the blocker isn’t in the code - it’s in the backyard.
I wanted mint juice.
Cold. Green. The kind that slaps in summer and clears your head like a clean refactor.
Usually there’s some mint in the fridge; a few fresh leaves, ready to crush and mix.
Not this time: no juice, no mint.
Lately I’ve been cutting dependencies in my projects - figured I’d do the same here.
And if you know me by now…
Yeah. I decided to grow my own mint.
That’s when the real debugging started.
🐛 Bug #1: No Output
Week one - no leaves. Zero output.
I’d planted the mint cutting (store-sourced) too deep and left the pot in the shade.
Fix: replanted shallower, moved it to sunlight, watered right.
Environment config matters - even outside the terminal.
💧 Bug #2: Overflow
Overwatered. Twice a day - thinking I could speed things up.
Bad assumption. Yellow leaves. Growth stalled.
Fix: dialed it back to once daily.
Simpler inputs. Better results.
🐜 Bug #3: Actual bugs
Tiny // (Green + Yellow)‘ish Color.
Unsure about their name and origin.
Fix: neem oil. Nature’s kill -9.
Monitored logs (read: leaves) daily for regressions.
Final Commit: 🍃 Mint to Prod
By week four, the mint was thriving - vibrant, fragrant, and ready.
Harvested a handful. Crushed it with lime, sugar, ice, soda.
First sip: cold, clean, handcrafted.
Exactly what I was after.
🧃 Why It Was Worth It
Wasn’t trying to be poetic - just wanted juice.
But growing something real - offline, analog, physical - hits different.
Sometimes the best reset isn’t a break. It’s a build in a different ecosystem.
Even if prod is just a glass.