Now that winter is well and truly here, I am plagued with guilt for not having prepared more to have crops flourishing in the garden to satisfy my family’s vegetable needs throughout the months of November 2022, through April 2023 (weather permitting). Why is that? Because despite my desire to do better in food production than I have done in previous years, to buy not even one plant from the garden centre, and to use what nature had to offer as trellising and protection as my first go to resource, I am still someone who gets so bogged in details, plans, dreams, and fancies, that I actually forget the action part of what I need to do until it is too late. I like to daydream about having this-and-that to accomplish thus-and-such and if I do not have these things, well, it seems nothing gets accomplished. I am also a master procrastinator. Here are five situations I found myself in that I believe prevented me from enjoying a successful winter garden.
1. The Woe is me syndrome!
So whilst in my fanciful head I just know that a greenhouse and potting shed are what I need to be productive, the reality is that those are dreams not to be fulfilled until the foreseeable when money becomes available. This wishing I had all the wonderful things to make gardening easier, more desirable and more productive, cost me in time, money, and effort more so this year than in any other. I looked out at my garden and imagined that everything was at my disposal, at it is for so many people whose gardening channels I watch on YouTube. I mentally planned for the perfect poly tunnel, greenhouse, and potting shed, and seedlings all in a row waiting to be planted out. I would wish I had what those people had which seemed to account for much of their success. I would plan how I would get it, go to Amazon and place things into my basket and in the end realising, as I knew from the first, that I could not afford any of it, I would then wallow in a ‘poor me attitude’, as if that would change anything. A lot of time was wasted as I dwelt on what I did not have instead of working with what I did. So then I rushed to get seeds sown before the month of August became a memory.
What I have learned: stop drowning in self-pity; use what I have; heed nature’s deadlines; do it my way; just get it done.
2. Trying to be someone you are not!
So whilst I was still trying to be like Charles Dowding and Liz Zorab of my YouTube world, time had ticked by and before I knew it, the end of September had arrived and I had no seedlings to show for it. It was not as if I did not sow seeds, nor was it the case that I did not harden off these plants. I got lucky and did all I was supposed to but I got side-tracked by the YouTube videos of all the perfectly timed and healthy seedlings so many of the major channels were showing me that I became first despondent then negligent about my own business and about getting things properly done. So much so that the slugs had eaten all my sown seedlings (20 plus variety of winter crops that I had sown in August) before I noticed I had nothing to put in the ground (and totes) other than celeriac and sticks that were once cabbages and kale. Would they have eaten everything if I had a greenhouse to store them instead of an improvised ‘greenhouse’ which is nothing more than an opaque 72 gallon plastic tote with holes punched in the bottom and tulle covering the top held in place by the tote’s lid which had its middle cut out in order to aid ventilation, and which worked really well I might add? Hmm, well actually I do not know the answer to that. I started mine own seedlings, they successfully germinated, they thrived in abundance, and they waited for me to plant them out. But vigilance was called for and I failed them all. My way could have worked but I would rather have been like so and so.
What I have learned: just be myself; use what I have (yes this is redundant but true); be happy with my lot.
3. Being apathetic. It leads to failure every time!
Despondency and neglectfulness turned to apathy. The successes of others on YouTube added more stress to my already anxious and procrastinating nature. I do not remember whose channel I was watching the first time I realised I could not longer finish watching videos of others showing their seedlings thriving in their garden without feeling like I could not breathe. I would turn off the shows and tell myself to go and tend to my own plants, go, go, go! But of course I had not the energy; I had been zapped of it by the mere mention of “what to plant in [insert month]___” or “you still have time to sow ____” or the dreaded “while it is too late to plant these from seeds. . .” Since I had left the seedlings to their own devices, providing a buffet for the slugs and worms (I mean I did not even check on the status of anything until I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach that perhaps it was too late to do any damage control), I knew that if I were to have any food for the winter, I would have to get starts (seedlings) from the garden centre. But getting to the garden centre was not as easy as it should have been. I had the means and ability but not the inclination. I mean this was failure right? In a major way no less as I was not supposed to get even 1 start from the centre! So I procrastinated then as well and nearly missed the best time for my zone (7b/8a) to have winter crops firmly in the ground (and totes). I thought to myself: ‘why bother?’ I had dozens of seedlings at my disposal and could not manage to have successfully planted out even one? Oh wait, there was celeriac and some kale and cabbage sticks. Maybe they will recover.
What I have learned: stop procrastinating; be self-assured; be confident; be proactive; be in control; things are not going to go well all the time so better something than nothing; do not leave things to chance.
4. Wasting time and money!
Needless to say I had again wasted time and money x money because after I realised that all of my seedlings had died, I felt a tremendous amount of guilt about not holding up my end of things by providing food for my family for the winter months. Two weeks after discovering the carnage and wondering what to do, I went to the local garden centres to get a few starts. More money was wasted in the process as I bought starts from different centres without checking prices and some of the very same brand were cheapest in one place and most expensive in a third. I purchased 6 packs of the following: Morris heading collards. cauliflower, broccoli, curly kale, Brussels sprouts, and savoy Cabbage. Dill, Flat Dutch cabbage, Celery and cilantro were purchased later on. I waited a bit long to plant some of the starts which stayed in various garden containers and beds longer than they should. October is no time to be planting an winter garden (fingers crossed), especially when frosts can come as early as the second week in October even though average frost is not until first week in November. I had to re-purchase one of the plants for the first died. The 6-pack of flat Dutch cabbages and all died– although I do not take responsibility for that one as they were planted as soon as purchased. All would have perished if I did not finally decide, two weeks after purchasing the first set, to plant everything into their assigned spaces in the garden. Everything started growing and looked healthy. My no-dig soil was at its best and I had invested in more organic compost to top up the beds. But alas, it was not to be my year.
What I have learned: be thrifty when buying plants; get seedlings in the ground or other growing area as soon as purchased; take care of seedlings like any other investment;
5. Never again–regretting decisions instead of learning from mistakes
Wow! As if that was not enough I still had not learned to take care of my plants properly. It was the middle of December and I was feeling proud of my garden. I planted garlic, peas and lots of salad greens, bok choy in greens and reds, tatsoi, and radishes. I anticipated a harvest for Christmas. The collards and curly kale needed a bit more size. The sprouts were lentil size. The cauliflowers were budding; the cabbages were heading up but the broccoli were not showing. I plucked baby radishes and ate them with relish. And then came December 19th when the temperatures were forecast to drop into the single digits and to ‘feel’ in the minuses with wind chill and to persist at below freeing for several days. I wanted to cover over everything before the front came but I was busy dealing with some emergency needs of my parents. I could have gone out that night to cover them, but I am afraid of the dark. I could have done so the next morning but I reasoned it was too late so why bother. So I missed the opportunity to cover the plants, and I watched for several days as the plants bowed to the cold wind and freezing temperatures, the leaves so frozen they were unable to keep upright. Even plants that had lived through several winters seemed unable to resist the frozen air. Several days later after the day temps started rising above freezing again, I knew the damage was done. I was upset at the waste of time and money, as I had persevered only to have everything succumb to mother nature. Never again I said. I am not doing this again.
What I have learned: just keep trying; nature happens; be prepared; take courage from the smallest of successes; never give up
Well that was the easy way out, so that’s that; but wait, there is another way of looking at all of this.
Gardening can be fun and easy most times but it is difficult and unpredictable some times. Having a plan of action is imperative, even one in your head. Knowing what you want to accomplish in the garden in a given season is smart. Stating your own seeds is brilliant. Not trying to grow everything possible in a short amount of time is advisable. I have made tons of mistakes trying to grow a winter garden in 2022. Most of the plants froze to death but I have learned much. I am ready to try again and cannot wait for spring. On the bright side, I do see two of the collards, a couple of curly kale, two savoy cabbages and all 6 of the Brussels sprouts trying to come back from the brink. I won’t be harvesting any sprouts, of that I am certain, but I could harvest the leaves of the sprouts. Perhaps there might be a small cabbage? And it certainly looks as if I will be able to harvest a few leaves from the collards.
