There is one aspect of the garden I have not mentioned before. Pride, self esteem. Not in the way many people think of it, though.
The first few years I tried growing the garden (especially flowers), my daughter was excited. Then I met with failure after failure. She became rather disenchanted. While she didn't say anything, it showed. Each year we planted tons of flower seeds, each year we were met with weeds and bare soil. That pretty much happened for three years.
Then there was a breakthrough one year. Marigolds. That was really the only flower that grew in the garden that year. In the meantime, I had started wrestling some pumpkins, lettuce and a few small tomatoes out of the garden.
Then I was finally able to afford several things which made a major difference. The tiller, a drip system and a new well and well pump.
Along the way, I kept experimenting with different things to plant, see what would work. Kept reading to learn the right times to plant here. Kept studying to understand what I needed to do to my soil. Upping the ante, adding gypsum and finally acid.
Last year made a difference. Found sunflowers would grow in this soil. Happened across Cosmos. Marigolds continued to grow.
This year, I expanded the drip system further and keep refining it. Planted sunflowers in the back as well as the front. Cosmos have exploded into lots of colors. Various other flowers have finally taken hold. Nasturtium are blooming here and there through the garden. Zinnias are finally blooming.
Daughter is happy and proud of me. I don't feel like a failure in front of her. We have a sunflower which stand 12 ft tall and has 13 blooms and buds on it (which I have never seen before). With giant pumpkins, giant corn, sunflowers taller than the house and tomato plants taller than myself, we are growing things which she does not see anywhere else.
Maybe this worked out for the best. She has seen my efforts and seen that I did not give up. Instead, I kept trying different things, kept learning. Finally saw that effort pay off. Each year, we harvest more from the garden, in crops and flowers. We all want our children to be proud of us, to be good examples for them. Though the best example does not come from how we react when things are going as planned. The best example comes from how you react when things go wrong.
The first few years I tried growing the garden (especially flowers), my daughter was excited. Then I met with failure after failure. She became rather disenchanted. While she didn't say anything, it showed. Each year we planted tons of flower seeds, each year we were met with weeds and bare soil. That pretty much happened for three years.
Then there was a breakthrough one year. Marigolds. That was really the only flower that grew in the garden that year. In the meantime, I had started wrestling some pumpkins, lettuce and a few small tomatoes out of the garden.
Then I was finally able to afford several things which made a major difference. The tiller, a drip system and a new well and well pump.
Along the way, I kept experimenting with different things to plant, see what would work. Kept reading to learn the right times to plant here. Kept studying to understand what I needed to do to my soil. Upping the ante, adding gypsum and finally acid.
Last year made a difference. Found sunflowers would grow in this soil. Happened across Cosmos. Marigolds continued to grow.
This year, I expanded the drip system further and keep refining it. Planted sunflowers in the back as well as the front. Cosmos have exploded into lots of colors. Various other flowers have finally taken hold. Nasturtium are blooming here and there through the garden. Zinnias are finally blooming.
Daughter is happy and proud of me. I don't feel like a failure in front of her. We have a sunflower which stand 12 ft tall and has 13 blooms and buds on it (which I have never seen before). With giant pumpkins, giant corn, sunflowers taller than the house and tomato plants taller than myself, we are growing things which she does not see anywhere else.
Maybe this worked out for the best. She has seen my efforts and seen that I did not give up. Instead, I kept trying different things, kept learning. Finally saw that effort pay off. Each year, we harvest more from the garden, in crops and flowers. We all want our children to be proud of us, to be good examples for them. Though the best example does not come from how we react when things are going as planned. The best example comes from how you react when things go wrong.
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