A White Coneflower transplant that I planted in my wildflower garden this past week after most of the wildflower seeds that I planted this spring failed to grow as planned. |
Dear Readers, I will admit it: I am a Planner. I love it
when I have a carefully laid out plan, and everything works out according to that
plan. When things work out according to the
schedule that I have planned, and all of the details that I worked out in
my mind and on paper come to fruition, I think to myself, “Ah, all is right with the world!” and, “Of course it all
worked out. I had a plan!”
The truth is, though, most of the time in life, things do
not actually work out according to “the plan.” Things come up in our carefully planned out schedules that
we didn’t anticipate and we must adjust our plans, or we must completely throw
them out the window. People get
sick. Accidents and bad weather happen. Events get cancelled. Our financial resources fall through
and we must make different arrangements or change things entirely.
In our gardens, things don’t always go according to our
plans either, and if you are a newer gardener like me and are still learning a lot
of skills and other things about gardening, a lot of things can happen that
disrupt your lovely garden plan for the season. The truth is, nature
doesn’t really care about your plans.
Weather events are unpredictable, and for most of us, such things are beyond
our control.
I actually think that
secretly, squirrels and other critters laugh at our garden plans and plot
against them…
So far this season, dear Readers, I have had issues with a
lot of rain making things very soggy in my garden, and this has made it
difficult for some plants to establish themselves. A number of
them have not survived (I will likely have no cabbages this year, for instance,
as none of the cabbage transplants that I started and planted in my garden have
lived) and others have been slower to establish. I have had ants in
multiple places throughout my yard, which has made it difficult to grow things
in certain areas. I have had
squirrels digging in my herb spiral and eating my strawberries from my
strawberry plant. The squirrels
don’t seem to care that I have a fence around my main garden area, as they just
climb up and over the fence and dig wherever they please. My perennial wildflower garden, which I
attempted to seed twice with wildflower seeds also failed to take off on its
own. These are just a few of my
gardening woes that I had not encountered last year.
I have vowed to make this blog a record of many of the good
things that happen in my garden and homestead, but also a record of when things
don’t go so well, and to tell you about many of the things that I have learned
along the way. I want you to know
that you don’t need to be the perfect gardener right away, or ever. I certainly am not a perfect gardener
yet. Perhaps I will never be
one. I think that’s okay.
Don’t be afraid to try different things, experiment and
learn. I think that in our
culture, we are often told, “Do it right
or just go home.” To expect
perfection right away does not leave much room for personal growth or for
learning from our mistakes. We are
in a time of history that we can learn right now. Although, for some around the world, if your crop fails you
will not eat, for many of us, we still have the blessing of being able to
experiment and learn “as we grow.”
Take advantage of that and work to gain knowledge and skills as best you
can, at your own pace. Don’t be afraid
to try new garden techniques, and try growing different plants and varieties
that you’ve never tried growing before.
What’s the worse thing that could happen?
It’s okay for things to fail, because we can learn a lot
through those experiences and we will be all the wiser next time if we are
paying attention to what happened.
You can even share with others what you have learned, which can help
them in their own gardening endeavors.
Gardening and homesteading is an entire global community of people that
love doing these things and love to share their knowledge and wisdom. As you learn more, you can contribute
to the global network of knowledge as well.
I hope that with my willingness to be open about my garden and homestead triumphs and failures, you are inspired to go for it and just be
willing to fail if you must.
Often, success happens after we have failed many times. A successful product often has a
history of many failed products and projects before it.
My new Prairie Splendor Coneflower plant. I hope that the pollinators will like it, along with the other transplants that I planted this past week. |
Thank you for sharing the un-happy as well as the happy. With all the gorgeous pictures and piles of produce people share, it's nice to be reminded occasionally that I'm not the only imperfect person on the internet.
ReplyDeleteI hear you, Shannon. I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there who aren't perfect gardeners, but they are just afraid to show when things don't go so well. I figure that people can learn from my experiences and mistakes, so I am for being authentic with my readers.
DeleteHi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteIt is so therapeutic to read your honest and authentic reflections. Yes, this rings true for me as well. Despite our best laid plans things are not necessarily going to work out the way we planned--especially in the garden. But we must not give up--we must try and try again! Some of life's greatest lessons can be learned in the garden. Thank you so much for sharing your inspiring experiences and insights with us on the Healthy, Happy, Green & Natural Blog Hop! I appreciate it!
Hi Deborah. Thanks for your encouraging comments. I'm glad that you host the blog hops every week. It's a great way to see what other folks in the green community are doing. Keep it up!
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