It’s around that time here on the coast, when gardens are beginning to fill out and excitement builds. There’s lots to do but we’re seeing results (hopefully!). Now, and anytime during the year, it’s important to maintain perspective in our optimistic gardener brains because not much in life is static and unchanging and the vegetable garden is no exception.
Some years some crops fail while others are a smashing success. Perhaps your garden is only a year or two old and therefor not as fertile as you’d like. Or maybe you planted the cauliflower too late and it never worked out. Also, while a few ostriches out there like to pretend global warming isn’t real, it’s very real effects are being felt. For instance, notice how spring has disappeared from the radar every year now? We go from winter to a couple of warmer spring-like days to summer temperatures within the span of a week (or usually less!). These are some of the extremes scientists have talked about with regards to global warming. All these things wreak havoc on poor, sensitive gardeners.
How do we as gardeners deal with all the challenges? A good question, with many answers. More to the point of this blog post, adapting to change. No two gardening seasons will be identical and sometimes your best efforts will be wasted on some crops. And no your brand new vegetable garden isn’t going to be as fertile as your neighbour’s garden, which has been the welcome recipient of wonderful compost and healthy and organic gardening practices for many years. Just accept this fact and move on. It takes time to build a great thing. And we can adjust our own gardening practices to predictably unpredictable weather. Life has enough stressors and gardens should not register in this life stressors category. Gardens are our sanctuary.
Do your best out there in the garden and expect that you’ll receive some pleasant and some unpleasant surprises. And more importantly, enjoy the process. Watching your little green babies grow up is a wonderful experience and sometimes, it’s wonderful for that caterpillar eating the leaves off your green baby, too!
West Coast Foodscapes 