It is a painful thwack to the head when the obvious hits me, especially when accompanied by that hateful know-it-all voice inside your head that says, “I told you so”.  Professionally I’d call this having ‘insight’ but since I’m amongst friends and family I’ll admit I am just a slow learner.  Or rather, I am slow to take instruction on account of the stubbornly independent streak in me that means I have to find my own way of doing things. Unsurprising the effects of such a single-minded approach results in endless frustrations when things don’t turn out quite as you would expect.
After five years of kitchen gardening, this spring seems to be better than the previous ones. Â Finally, the endless reading and planning for an ideal way of gardening is beginning to make sense. Â Also, experience has shown that there is no perfect way to produce food, and you can only do your best and hope nature helps you along the way. Â It does of course help to spend time in the garden to get ahead of the growing season instead of prioritising other things.
My attempts to stay in tune with natures way seem less frantic than in the past. Seeds germinated on cue, and the mice didn’t eat them as I used the conservatory for raising the seeds away from the pesky mice that visit the greenhouse.  There are more plants in the beds rather than growing in the paths as I finally relented and sprayed the paths with weedkiller instead of spending hours hand weeding.  There are of course things I have forgotten to plant yet like sunflowers, but I’m confident that their sprint growing abilities will see them right.  I have somewhat more sweet pea seedlings than there is space in the garden so I shall experiment growing them in a pot for the veranda instead.
My big moment of realisation was that breaking down the chores in the garden is better than trying to do it all in one go.  No more feeling of being overwhelmed or exhausted with it all.  Small accomplishments will in time build up to a bigger achievement. I am no longer fretting the lettuce has gone to seed and the weeds are going crazy in the salad beds because if I turn around I can see the peas and beans are in the ground and starting their upward climbs.  Also, the fruit has been pruned and tied down before the wind does its work and the gooseberries grow their thorny crowns.  The garlic shoots look smart in orderly rows.  The greenhouse is overflowing with greens and herbs so those salad beds can wait a week before getting their makeover.
It may be tempting fate so early in the season to be so satisfied, but I am going to enjoy it anyway. Â After all, who could resist a bit of happiness with a plate of freshly picked asparagus, spring greens and herbs for dinner, even if was blowing a southerly gale outside.
I think this will be best year yet!! I like your plan, relax and enjoy it!! But don’t let the bassets eat all the beans off the vines before you get a chance to pick them 😉
Oh Liz, I hope you are right that it will be a good year in the garden. Last year wasn’t much fun for lots of reasons. Have planted lots of beans for Fortnum to indulge his thieving ways! JT xx
WOW, that asparagus and egg salad looks fantastic. Well done on the asparagus — I’m jealous. Same as you, I forge my own learning path in the garden, and even though I know much much better, I planted way too many seeds on one day, and now I’ve got an overflowing seedling orphanage on my hands. Time for another blog give-away I guess. Happy growing, picking, and eating.
Oh Sue, I know what you mean. When I potted on my seedlings I realised once again I have too much but I am sure I shall be able to pass them onto other people. I have about 40 tomato plants in pots right now :o) JT
What a beautiful plate of homegrown food, Julie!
Oh Jeff you say the nicest things. I often wonder what you are pulling out from your garden. Think you should send me some pictures of your handiwork :o) JT
You’ve been reading that article you tweeted yesterday on happier brains! I understand the overwhelming list of gardening chores. Sometimes I walk into mine and walk straight back into the house! But this weekend, Bill and I have set to it with a vengeance. Now we hope to keep it under some sort of control. Celebrate the small achievements 🙂
Yay for you Lesley. Break it down into small chunks and don’t sweat the small stuff! JT
I definitely still have a great deal to learn in the garden, and it doesn’t help that I actually really don’t like gardening. I do like reaping the rewards though, so I do a bit under sufferance. Broad beans are coming along wonderfully at the moment, as is beetroot, with tomatoes set to go in the garden this weekend. I’m totally impressed with your plate of asparagus and salad leaves – looks wonderful. I’ve not been brave enough to plant asparagus – for some reason I have the idea that it’s hard to grow.
Sue, it is really simple to grow asparagus. You just need patience and enough land as you must keep an asparagus bed as a permanent feature. I grew mine from seed and didn’t eat any for three years so its a long game but pays dividends. Picking and eating straight away is the best thing to do. Totally worth the effort though. JT