So far this season I have planted spinach, kale, broccoli, green beans, carrots, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, and egg plant. In all honesty, most of these haven't been planted long enough to know how they will do but the early results are not encouraging. The first round of spinach and kale were eaten by the chickens and had to be replanted, but of the 50+ seeds planted of each we currently have 4 of each growing. The broccoli sprouted well but the bugs seem to be eating the sprouts faster than they are growing so I am not sure if it will make it.
Even my back up plans seems to be failing this year. I planted 30 green beans outside, but after several weeks only about 4 had sprouted. I "suggested" to my daughter that she grow green beans for her science fair project on germination rates (back up plan). Once her project was complete we transplanted 15 of the plants outside to replace the ones that didn't sprout. The transplanting went well and they started growing quickly. Now they look like this:
This SHOULD be a row of 15 green bean plants nicely climbing the trellis.
I am really starting to wonder if this whole grow your own food thing is even possible for me. Maybe I am just ungifted in this area and should spend my time on other things. Oh, it could be any number of other things, but when I read Facebook posts like the one below that a friend of mine posted yesterday, it makes me wonder if this just isn't in my skill set:
"Just needing to seed some lettuce and spinach and the garden is fully planted . . . planted the 9 tomatoes and 4 bell peppers today! The green beans and peas are popping through the ground along with the 4 types of squash and cucumbers. The broccoli is already producing . . . the cauliflower and cabbage are forming heads. The brussel sprouts are growing rapidly! The kale should be ready to start harvesting in the next 2 weeks. The leeks and celery are really taking off. Carrots are breaking through the ground. The 4 types of potatoes are about 3 to 6 inches high already! I feel we are going to have an amazing harvest this year!
— 
feeling thankful."As a teacher I had an instinct as to what would work with each kid. I worked with a lot of new teachers and it wasn't hard to tell which ones had it and which didn't. I had great people who truly loved kids but just couldn't figure out how to manage a class or reach the checked out kid. Most of these people gave up on the profession after a couple of years. Statistics show that 40% - 50% of teachers leave the profession within the first 5 years. You don't have to have this natural instinct to teach. I know a few teachers who have worked really hard and learned the skills they needed, but it is a lot harder for them. I am beginning to believe that just like teaching, there is more to this kind of gardening than you can learn from books and such. A lot of it is just a natural instinct that I seem to be missing.
I am not giving up, I have more green beans sprouting in cups in my living room as I type this and will continue to sprout and plant them until I run out of seeds. However I think I need the reality check that sustainable living isn't an easy lifestyle choice. It is not sitting in an orchard watching the kids play outside and sipping fresh lemonade. It is making a choice to do all the work yourself and crashing in an exhausted heap under a tree for a few minutes, while blocking out the whine of children protesting that they can't be constantly plugged in to an electronic devise. Is it worth it?
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