Garden Fail
I don’t really talk about my failures on this blog. It isn’t really what my “voice” is about, and it’s not typically why people visit my blog. People come to me for information, advice, and recipes in areas in which I have succeeded and in which I can be a voice of authority.
That said, I will explain my lack of gardening posts for the first time in the three years since I began this blog.
If this had been my first year gardening, it would have been my last year gardening. If I hadn’t successfully gardened for the last few years and had bounty to show for it, I would never delve a into seed-to-dirt lifestyle again.
Several factors went into my gardening fail this year. We had a rather severe drought at the beginning of the season. I was certain my large garden on my church property would completely wither away and die. If it hadn’t rained when it did, my prediction likely would have come true. But, it did rain. Almost every day. While I was gone for 10 straight days. I came back to a JUNGLE.
Once I lost control over it, I lost total control. I did not have the time or the “personnel” to manage such a huge garden plot that had completely gone to seed. The worse it got, the less I visited, until I couldn’t even stand the thought of it.
So, drought, then lost of rain, then poor time management, then just being overwhelmed with it all led to this garden having weeds (hay) that is literally over my head. I can barely find my way out of it, much less find any plants that may have survived the drought and then the choking weeds.
This is what it looked like in April:
And this is what it looks like now:
I feel bad. A lot of time, energy, and resources went in to planting the seed in the first place, and I’ve pretty much wasted it all. Next year will be easier. My time will be more manageable, I won’t spend so much time on books and writing during the summer months, and the kids will be older and more help.
Until then, though, this year’s garden is one big fail. I do have about 100 tomato plants in my back yard that are doing well, despite the early drought. I will be able to get some tomato products made out of those. So, the entire year is not a waste. But the large garden is completely gone and unrecoverable. There’s nothing really I can do about that.
Join me next March/April for a return to my annual gardening posts!
Hallee
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I guess we go to our garden i life that starts with nothing. We pray for God to fill it with what we need. In his time, not ours…he fills it to the top! Yet if we are not there to see what he has sent us and to care for it, it will become over run with other things. Than it feels so beyond our reach we don’t know how to get control again. So your garden story taught me something. God will fill the gaps I pray for in my life with what I need. However, I have to watcb for that blessing and grasp it when its time. If I let it pass me by, it will be lost amonv many other unneeded things. The weeds that choke the good! Thank you Hallee!
There still may be vegetables in that grass, especially if you planted any vine crops like zuchinni or melons. Keep an eye on it before you plow it under. BEAUTIFUL grass! You’d see big smiles with a garden like that out here–in Los Angeles! :-)
Beautifully put, Lisa!
Hallee, talking about your “failures” makes you seem more human. Everyday I am sad and ashamed of myself for not living up to the expectations of perfection. My lawn needs to be mowed, my bathrooms need to be cleaned, I never managed to even start a garden this year – or any other year. Somehow while reading online I often begin to believe that I am an utter and complete failure. It makes me smile to think that you, my role model, sometimes has things come out like me. Did Gregg get angry and chastize you? Unlikely. He always seems to think everything you do is wonderful. Sigh-