This is such a good topic. I see failure and success as different points on the same line. Also, I don’t think of it as binary where something has to be a success OR failure. Sometimes parts of a project work and some parts don’t. This doesn’t make it a resounding fail. But nonetheless the word itself is so loaded and can be damaging whe…
This is such a good topic. I see failure and success as different points on the same line. Also, I don’t think of it as binary where something has to be a success OR failure. Sometimes parts of a project work and some parts don’t. This doesn’t make it a resounding fail. But nonetheless the word itself is so loaded and can be damaging when used as a put-down trying to keep someone in their place.
I’d like to say that I can hear the word failure (associated with something I’ve done), and take it with grace, when in actual fact it’s a gut-punch feeling. I’ve found that a nuanced approach softens the blow (a little!): was it a total failure or was there a tiny part that was actually okay?
I feel your gardening pain! My brassicas have been a text book fail because they have been decimated by a caterpillar infestation. Dwindling from 12 plants to 5 to…3. Next year there will be netting! Definitely lessons learned. Nature is pretty forgiving and gardens seem to be able to take quite a lot of ‘experiments and experiences’ so I hope your onions have a better year next year!
Here to be around people also frustrated with their plants/gardens!! The amount of strife I've felt over the past four or so months trying to get rid of these damn fungus gnats in my houseplants is wild.
I can grow plants outdoors but not indoors! Never managed to hold onto a single one, so I feel your frustration! I've heard nematodes are good for fungus gnats. Hope you find something that helps.
Thanks so much! That’s next on my list to buy as a solution. I’ve gone through like 7 different tests and trials. My plants - usually such a pleasure - are wearing me down!!
Every year is a new success and a new failure, and each time I feel a mixture of joy and frustration. But it's the one place where I feel most at home, and no home is ever perfect. I'll say a little garden prayer for your brassicas.
Oh yes, that gut punch is painful. I've felt that, too. But I do agree that failure and success are not binary, that there are smaller aspects of each in many events our lives face.
I fail all the time in my garden. This year it was the white storage onions. First I planted them in a bed whose soil has been underperforming, then I neglected to fertilize them adequately, and then (you're not gonna believe this) I left them in a shallow tub to cure while I went on vacation, it rained like 6 inches in 2 days, and I came home to those onions swimming in rancid water. Yuck! But I've learned several really valuable things in these events. Painful but valuable.
This is such a good topic. I see failure and success as different points on the same line. Also, I don’t think of it as binary where something has to be a success OR failure. Sometimes parts of a project work and some parts don’t. This doesn’t make it a resounding fail. But nonetheless the word itself is so loaded and can be damaging when used as a put-down trying to keep someone in their place.
I’d like to say that I can hear the word failure (associated with something I’ve done), and take it with grace, when in actual fact it’s a gut-punch feeling. I’ve found that a nuanced approach softens the blow (a little!): was it a total failure or was there a tiny part that was actually okay?
I love that question: "was there a tiny part that was actually okay?"
Thanks Ryn! I hope it helps if you ever need it.
I feel your gardening pain! My brassicas have been a text book fail because they have been decimated by a caterpillar infestation. Dwindling from 12 plants to 5 to…3. Next year there will be netting! Definitely lessons learned. Nature is pretty forgiving and gardens seem to be able to take quite a lot of ‘experiments and experiences’ so I hope your onions have a better year next year!
Here to be around people also frustrated with their plants/gardens!! The amount of strife I've felt over the past four or so months trying to get rid of these damn fungus gnats in my houseplants is wild.
I can grow plants outdoors but not indoors! Never managed to hold onto a single one, so I feel your frustration! I've heard nematodes are good for fungus gnats. Hope you find something that helps.
Thanks so much! That’s next on my list to buy as a solution. I’ve gone through like 7 different tests and trials. My plants - usually such a pleasure - are wearing me down!!
Oh no! Those drive me nuts, too. But I’m an avid outdoor plant pro and a total indoor plant rookie.
Every year is a new success and a new failure, and each time I feel a mixture of joy and frustration. But it's the one place where I feel most at home, and no home is ever perfect. I'll say a little garden prayer for your brassicas.
Oh yes, that gut punch is painful. I've felt that, too. But I do agree that failure and success are not binary, that there are smaller aspects of each in many events our lives face.
I fail all the time in my garden. This year it was the white storage onions. First I planted them in a bed whose soil has been underperforming, then I neglected to fertilize them adequately, and then (you're not gonna believe this) I left them in a shallow tub to cure while I went on vacation, it rained like 6 inches in 2 days, and I came home to those onions swimming in rancid water. Yuck! But I've learned several really valuable things in these events. Painful but valuable.
All relatable, including the 'not an either or'
I enjoyed reading this exchange Jo and Robin.
Thank you
Thank you Prajna ☺️