Mistakes I have Made - Part 4

I still firmly believe that we can learn from both our Successes and our Mistakes. We must always pay attention to the things that go on around us. Above all, be constantly on the lookout for the purveyor of all things bad - "Murphy". Rule #27: "If Things Are Going Real Well - Look Out It Is Fixin To Turn Sour".

It took most of that Summer to get all 12 of the "Raised Beds" constructed so no crops that year. Having read about a process called "Sheet Composting" and deciding that it was not all that difficult and that it was something I could do, that became the plan for the Fall.

I was able to collect tons of Leaf Mold from the wooded areas of the Turf and spread it all 6 to 8 inches thick on the beds. Now since I had purchased my own 8hp "Troy Built Horse" tiller, I was able to till all that Leaf Mold into the beds and let it cook till Spring when I had great plans...

Come Spring the beds looked great, very few weeds that were taken care of by a few passes with Ole 8 Horse. Then it was crazy time, I planted A bed each of Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Onions, Pinto Beans, 2 of Tomatoes, 3 of Peppers, and 2 of Potatoes. All that was left for me to do was water on the weekends and watch the crops do their thing.

Everything was growing just great, nice and green and blooming. I was beginning to feel pretty smug once again and could not wait to begin sampling some of the fruits of my labor and sharing some with my neighbors. Again, Murphy chose this time to enter the picture.

It was the week before the Memorial Day weekend as I recall. We had 6-8 inches of rain during the week. When I arrived at the Turf on Friday evening, the first thing I did was check out the garden area. Sure enough, Murphy had seen to it that a 10' wide gully had washed down the whole 100' length of the garden. It even rained again that night just to add insult to injury.

I had constructed the Beds running across the slope of the land thinking to catch as much rain run off as I could. I caught it alright… Had to rethink that whole project. Thank You For Your Help MURPHY!!!!

As usual, I hope that we learned another of Murphy's Rules and that ya'll were able to see the error of my ways. (Still not sure that I made a Mistake here - Unless not allowing for "Murphy" is a Mistake - Yeah I Made a Mistake!) See ya'll again on "Mistakes Part 5".

Take Care - Belwether