Avant Gardener: Failure in the Garden can Lead to Success

  • By Kyle Valentini
  • August 23, 2010
  • 284
                        
Accepting ones failures in the garden is a necessary part of success…or perhaps sanity. Even while the broccoli harvest has been completely wiped out by the deer we still carry on about the prolific harvest of herbs, tomatoes and cantaloupe. We still gloat about the near perfect condition of the compost as the weeds overtake every square inch of available space in and around the raised beds Not every effort in the garden is going to be a success. Sometimes our best attempts are thwarted by weather, critters or our own neglect. Sometimes we choose to grow too much and we simply can’t keep up. Sometimes we choose to grow heirloom varieties we have never tried before and quickly realize why hybrids were created in the first place. When the deer started eating the tomatoes I considered throwing in the towel. My fence was obviously not working. I didn’t have any of those foil pie plates to tie to posts to make noise and didn’t think purchasing them would make that much difference. I had no Irish Spring or other stinky soap to hang in obvious places and didn’t think my soap making friend had any deer repellant soap in her cache. I did consider the placement of hair around the perimeter of the garden but thought twice and reconsidered. I simply cannot have hair, any hair, near my food, ditto for urine, period. It’s not that the tomatoes weren’t worth the effort…they were. I love my tomatoes. I think I was afraid of more disappointment. What if the pie plates, stinky soap and hair didn’t keep the deer from eating the tomatoes? Think of the shame had I resorted to urine! The tomatoes continue to ripen on the vine and the deer have not disturbed them. The mini gardener convinced me to make a scarecrow. We named him Steve and he has kept the deer out of the garden. I hadn’t even considered it. When the gourd vines became coated in powdery mildew I considered throwing in the towel. I knew there was a solution but there were so many vines, so much powdery mildew. How could I possibly tackle it? Armed with an empty, mint scented, earth-friendly window cleaner bottle I measured organic milk added water and began a morning spraying regimen that lasted less than two weeks. Some of the vines died off but most didn’t. The method I recommend to friends and readers was working and I had the gourds to prove it. Another failure was prevented due to diligence. When the gutter I had installed on the barn to draw water into the rain barrel seemed to be drawing water in the opposite direction I was going to throw in the towel. The solution was simple. The gutter merely needed to be repositioned so the water would flow….duh…downstream. I reluctantly removed wood screw after wood screw after wood screw after wood screw, repositioned the gutter and screwed it all back into place. I didn’t bother waiting for rain to see if it worked. Out came the garden hose, the same one I used to drag across the lawn and driveway to water the garden. Yep, it was working. Problem solved. When the weeds started overtaking the garden beds, paths, corners and crevices…I was going to throw in the towel. I knew the weekend was coming and I would have time to tackle them into submission. The weekend came and went. Preoccupied with back-to-school sales, trips to an organic farm that by the way, had lots of weeds and a pile of laundry that netted me $27 and some change, the weeds would have to wait. I knew they weren’t going anywhere. They’re still there. I have thrown in the towel. My dream of a perfect, weed-free garden has been thwarted, thwarted by life and the business of living. Never in my life did I think I would be able to use the word thwarted so many times in one sitting and never in my life have I had so little concern for failing to keep the weeds at bay while my garden continues to flourish…right alongside the weeds. It looks like we can call the garden a success this year.


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