There’s always a balance when one undertakes a larger project. Whilst mucking around in my garden and getting a bit dispirited that I wasn’t finishing my whole garden in an afternoon’s light work (!), I began to think about the various sayings that we always use and how they can often contradict each other. Of course the trick is that each of the sayings occurs in a particular context and you have to remember your grandparent’s advice as to when to use the particular saying at the right time.
The early bird catches the worm
OK so I’m more than three months in and my own backyard gardening has not progressed much. I’ve not just not caught the worm, but it’s been so long that the worms have since evolved into a new sentient species and developed space travel and left Earth so that they are not persecuted by the mynah birds anymore! What is going on?
Well the simplest explanation is that I’m a world class procrastinator and I have zero excuses and that you should read this only to find out what convoluted explanation I have for justifying my stuck-in-the-mudness progress.
Background Context
First some background context:
- I have seven dogs who do not get walked enough and use the garden to exercise.
- I have seven dogs who think the best place to sleep at night is on soft loamy soil.
- I have a view but it turns out that probably the best place to put my garden beds are in front of the view. There are other locations but they do not get the same amount of sun as this place.
- I’m totally new (‘green’ ha ha) to this.
- I’m weary of putting a lot of effort and resources into something straight away and then having to tear it all up and start again (or abandon the project). Been there and done that too many times.
Potential Solutions
Actually I have a number of solutions that I have worked out. The first and foremost is that I need to create raised beds and then I need to fence these off with chicken wire.
I don’t think mine will look as neat as this one and I’ll also have bigger boxes.
I’ve already indicated that I’m keen to try and utilise the old building material that I’ve got lying around the house.
I have a feeling that I’m going to be experimenting but I’m definitely going to try and do small nurseries for some of the plants and ‘direct’ planting for others.
Current Barriers
- Haven’t figured out where the nursery will go.
- Haven’t cleaned out the garden shed enough to easily get tools in and out of the shed.
- Have not figured out a way to extract the many, many, many nails that exists in the old wood.
- Have not figured out a way to utilise the old burglar bars as part of this too. I could just cut it all up but I’m frightened that I’ll cut it into weird lengths that are not useable.
Some ‘affirmation’ to confirm ‘it was good to wait!’
Actually blind luck. The weather played havoc with my colleagues who started sensibly and way ahead of me. Ruined some of their initial crops. Some of my students had their whole nursery blown away. I know it’s not a real excuse but hey I’m imagining that is the very least that would have happened to my wee garden so I’m consoling myself for the moment that I haven’t lost as much time as I thought I have.
Ahem!
The Way Forward
Analysis paralysis
OK to some extent the solution is to get out of what my brother has always fondly referred to as ‘analysis paralysis’ and that is simply to start. In fairness I have already started on somethings. I’ve done some tidying in the garden, taken out two old beds, started to sort some of the old building material and done an awful lot of YouTube video watching about a number of things.
A stitch in time saves nine
One of which is that I realise that I really need to use the time in the garden to think about not just my plant boxes but also setting up a wee orchard in the garden. In this case having a bit more time to think about things can help to not make BIG mistakes – and sometimes it’s the ‘time’ that is the most expensive thing to consider when planning a bit project like this. The big break through for me was thinking more about keeping the trees small and not trying to grow them large.
Don’t believe that I’ve been doing research. Check this out.
The other thing I’m doing is considering a lot more about the science and the philosophy behind permaculture. I cannot recommend this film enough that I went ahead and bought online.
Alright, I’m going to commit to planter boxes being installed and initial crops planted before the end of August.
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