Letting Go – Try Hard, Admit Defeat and Move On

Letting go of anything is hard but sometimes we have to admit defeat at something and move on. To recognise that we tried and the outcome wasn’t quite worth the effort. This month I am in exactly that position.

I have documented on this blog, my love of gardening and my hopes and expectations for growing my own herbs, tomatoes and strawberries. In Gardening – A Hobby with Health Benefits I wrote about the successes and failures and what I had learned, along with the changes I was making this year to help.

This year, I planted my seeds and they came on great. I absolutely loved seeing their progress. I’ve had lots of chives, parsley and lettuces. Unfortunately, some insect got to the last of my lettuces and we had to give up on them. Glad to say the parsley and chives are still going strong.

I did not have any luck with the strawberries again. The plants were healthy, but the fruit was not good. The tomatoes are a mixed bunch. Again, plants absolutely thriving but the tomatoes are sparse and still very small and green. Still holding out some hope of them ripening before the end of summer.

I think I have to accept that we just don’t have the right climate for doing this properly. Combine that with time and I am afraid for now I am hanging up my gardening apron and putting this hobby into cold storage for a few years.

To set the scene, I live in a town which didn’t get its fair share of the summer heatwaves enjoyed by the majority of the UK. We had some nice weather but there has been a lot of rain and indeed winds at times. Working full time and focusing on producing stock for Pauline Gillies Design means that when there is time to work in the garden it needs to be to focus on the mundane tasks of grass cutting, weeding and generally keeping everything neat and tidy. The sporadic nature of the good weather means that when I get it all done, the weather breaks and by the time I can get back outside I am back to the start of the tasks needing done.

I have come to the decision that I just don’t have the time to dedicate to the veggies right now. Sometimes letting go is the best thing to do rather than keep plodding on with limited results.

This still can be a rewarding hobby and it’s good to be outside and enjoy nature. I’m not saying I will never go back to it one day and I may even keep some herbs going next year but for now I am giving up on the rest. It’s something I might pick up again when I finally get to retirement but for now it’s farewell to the veg patch.