To Break The Cycle

I'm still impressed.  Twigs planted in the dampness of spring. Rains and sun nourishing throughout the summer.  Leaves bursting forth verdant green.  Transforming to brilliant fire engine red in autumn.  And finally returning to twig form in the crispness of winter.  To start the amazing cycle again.  This time heavy with fruit.

But now the young blueberries are beneath grass and perennial weeds.  Japanese beetles attack.  And I have only so much time and energy.  I cannot keep up.  What will happen to our wonderful blueberry field?  It can not be good for them.  To be so choked and suppressed.  They have completed their fruit bearing but they need to keep growing for next year.

That's why we have decided to take back the field... with synthetics. (That's a nice way of saying "chemicals").  I feel as though I failed.  My dreams are larger than my time and energy.  Certainly not larger than my effort, for I put hours and hours in the humid hot heat of our Midwest summer sun.  Bent over with hoe in hand and weeds ripping from soil left in a heap to be mowed into mulch.  But the grass is close to seeding.... to repeat their annual seeding.  And the field is large. Those weeds which are too tall or old to succumb to the chemical will be yanked and destroyed manually. 

We will return to natural practices as soon as the cycle is broken.

Journey Joys - It's hard to express the "journey joy" today.  I am thankful that there are chemicals that can help.  And yet I am torn between my strong desire to grow naturally without chemicals and my strong desire to have a healthy productive field.  My husband and I have always said that we would follow organic farming as long as we could.  But if the crop was in danger of failing we would use chemicals.  We are at that point.  And yet I still feel.... discouraged. 

Let the Weeds Begin

How come they grow so readily? So well? So prolifically? That's one thing I can grow. I can grow weeds. But perhaps the point. I don't grow weeds... they grow themselves. Images of weed-free rows with productive and healthy plants creep into my mind's eye every spring. I plan; I order; I till; I plant. But weeds do not need tending. They grow where they are unwanted. Sucking up nutrients and moisture. Taking from the desire-ables.

Over the years I've learned a thing or two about weeds. Prevent them. Mulch with as much seed-free grass, straw or other clippings. As thick as you can lay it. Lay cardboard between wide rows and cover them up with wet mulch. Grow a winter cover crop. And when prevention doesn't work.... Get 'em early. Get 'em often.

But inevitably the weeds seem to win. Every year I say "It'll be better this year." And it usually is better. The soil is better amended. The weeds are prevented from growing and reproducing through mulch. But every year I seem to make the garden bigger. This year was a monumental expansion. I have never had four huge gardens before. It covers almost three acres. And somehow, in my mind, I think I'm going to keep this under control.

Notice I didn't say "weed-free". No, I am learning to adapt and modify. To live with some weeds. To remove as many as I can. And to help the fruits and vegetables flourish.

As I sit here and contemplate this weedy problem I am struck by the parallel between gardening and organizational structures. Regardless of the organization (or the garden!) the goal is to produce a good crop. But there are weeds. Weeds in the department. Some are noxious and pervasive. Some are irritating. Some can choke out the new idea or venture. Some abscond with the resources. And sometimes I may be the weed. I must remember, weeds are plants or flowers that are not where they are wanted. (Even poison ivy is tasty to goats.) And just as in gardening, I may not be able to get rid of every weed.... I need to learn to live with them. And learn to live well. Can a life with weeds be lived joyfully? I think so. I must learn to do so.

Today's Journey Joy: Looking at weeds afresh