The Working Garden – Early Attempts

At present I am thinking of growing a few salad leaves in a quiet spot, out of sight.

Nothing too demanding or competitive. We did have several large allotment sized vegetable plots when we were first here, but gave up.

The reason I gave up (and I’m not a natural quitter) was the fact that although we grew some great vegetables we had many demands on our time. The other reason was that I got heartily sick and tired of a neighbour turning up without warning or invitation, pointing at things and telling me at great length what I was doing wrong, and how it SHOULD be done.

He was probably right, but although I’m the first to acknowledge there are some rules, I totally disagree with ‘should’ gardening. It takes the fun, the creativity, the unexpected excitement out of it. It turns gardening into an obligation, a chore, a negative activity. I don’t particularly garden by rules all the time. I try things in my own way, in my own time, in my own garden, and marvel at what nature does all by itself. If something doesn’t work I try to learn from the experience and take a different approach. If all my vegetables are a total failure because of my ineptitude or the weather, I can go to the market. Simple.

I am so lucky to have had a lifetime of loving my garden. One of the many things I’ve learnt is that it’s not a challenge, not a competition. Life has enough challenges without imposing more. Plants are their own beings and you can enjoy their successes in the same way you enjoy the success of your friends or family. Some do better than others and there’s not always a good reason.

For me, gardening is absolutely not about about control, the biggest, the best or for doing certain things at a particular time in a prescriptive way. If you impose stress and rules, the joy and the pleasure is sucked out of an activity.
Just enjoy it.