Sowing & reaping

Regular readers of my blog will know that I quite enjoy the process of growing food. That there is much to learn from the process, and it often brings up unexpected results and analogies. Here’s another.

Last year I planted a great deal of herbs. These included basil, mint and oregano. But I had a very frustrating year. In fact, I lost more than 90% of my plants due to the heavy rain and relative increase in insects who seemed to gobble them up as soon as they sprouted. Which I would rather have happen, than use pesticides. But it did annoy me. It annoyed me to the point, where this year I didn’t bother. I didn’t plant any seeds for my summer herbs. I was cranky and decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Until yesterday, when I noticed that nature has been far more generous this year.

Without any attention, effort or otherwise, 3 little basil plants popped up, in good health.

I was pretty stoked for getting something for nothing, until I realised it was simply a delayed reaction. In fact, last year I put in a lot of effort for very little return, and this year I quit. Turns out I quit too early. Imagine the yield I would have received with just a little more effort than none at all? It would have been a bumper crop (as far as you can have a bumper crop in four pots on a decking).

There are a couple of clear take outs for me:

  • Nature doesn’t work to our timeline, it has its own.
  • Yield is not always seasonal.
  • We eventually reap all that we sow.
  • The birds will always get some…
  • Stay the course, it is usually longer than we estimate.
  • When flower blossom, it’s not too late to start working the field again.

All startup entrepreneurs should learn through the art of growing food.

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