Sadly, great effort is not always rewarded with success. Thoughtfulness, the ability to anticipate problems, and willingness to learn from mistakes are powerful allies to sheer effort and often make the difference between whether that effort is wasted energy or fruitful and purposeful.
Take these beans I transplanted. I hubristically thought I had a system here that would bring Nature to its knees and do my bidding. By planting the beans in cell trays, I let them grow a full two weeks indoors and in the greenhouse before they ever set foot in the garden. That allows me to keep whatever it is I’m growing in the garden in place that much longer. The beans are growing indoors while in the garden I’m still harvesting say lettuce, and then as soon as the lettuce is done, bang, there is a planting of beans that appears as if by magic. It’s a tight system, but apparently one that can still be undone.
Witness the first tragedy of the transplanted beans:
Here we have the work of what I can only imagine are crows, plucking bean transplants willy-nilly from their soft earthen beds and having their way with them, probably chuckling all the while. It’s a kind of mini-Mt.-St.-Helens scene, with the timbers (bean stalks) lying every which way after the powerful blast (a crow blast, that is). OK, I should have covered them, and so with the next planting I took corrective action, yet still the gods did not smile upon my efforts:
These beans were covered with Reemay, but the cover proved to be an ideal moisture retainer, especially during a wet two weeks, and thus slugs reared their terrible heads (slowly, of course), rolled their terrible little bulging eyes, gnashed their terrible, sharp, little teeth, and then destroyed the majority of my bean leaves.
At this stage of my gardening career, I hate to admit that sometimes I’m still a slow learner, but the fact that both crows and slugs could best me is its own harsh judgement. The human gift if not always perspicacity is perhaps tenacity, and I possess the latter in good measure, so learning from my mistakes, I hope I have done it right the third time:
Here are the most recent transplants with Sluggo scattered around them (iron sulfate….approved for organic growing) to keep off the mollusks, the seedlings covered (with Reemay, a spun polyester agricultural fabric)to protect from aerial assault, and the cover suspended over the plants with concrete reinforcing wire, again to keep it drier and keep the slugs at bay.
Yes, transplanting beans is a good idea, and, yes, I did my work thoroughly and diligently, yet still sometimes Nature demands more from us. More observation, more thinking, more effort. And yet it’s not wasted time. Eventually it comes together, the beans grow, flourish, and are eaten and the people nourished. Let’s hope this time the third time’s the charm.
