Yesterday I gave a talk at the garden center about vegetable garden problem solvers. I had just handed out a list of my go-to products for organic veggie gardens when a woman raised her hand. “Is there anything you can plant that you don’t have to fuss with?” she asked.

I thought of this question this morning as I sprayed my tomatoes and squash with Actinovate to suppress fungal problems. Next I needed to wash out the sprayer and fill it with Spinosad or Bt for the broccoli. Finally, the tomatoes had to be tied to their supports and I wanted to check the potatoes for signs of the Colorado potato beetle.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just plant a vegetable garden without having to think about leaf blight, mildew, cabbage lopers or beetles? In and out of the garden, we all dream about planting things we don’t have to fuss with.

Wouldn’t it be great if every project we started succeeded. Write a book and it becomes a best seller. Make a series of paintings or ceramic pots and have galleries clamoring to show and sell them. Have an app idea and sell it for millions. Unfortunate or not, life just isn’t like that. Most things we do require various degrees of effort, attention and dealing with difficulties.

Yet if we don’t plant and tend what we’ve sown, we certainly aren’t going to experience a harvest.

Vegetable gardeners, and anyone who’s ever set off down a road without knowing the outcome, realize that there are no guarantees. Most things worth doing and having take effort, and part of the journey is dealing with the unexpected and unwanted that appear along the way. The secret is to take as much pleasure in the journey and the problem solving as you do in reaching your destination.

Here is what makes the problem solving worth it for me. What a blessing to be able to take a cup of coffee into the garden on a Sunday morning and pick the best tasting beans, broccoli and summer squash on earth. Not to mention a bouquet of zinnias and dahlias.

Here is what makes the problem solving worth it for me. What a blessing to be able to take a cup of coffee into the garden on a Sunday morning and pick the best tasting beans, broccoli and summer squash on earth. Not to mention a bouquet of zinnias and dahlias.

Actinovate for fungal problems: Natural Industries LGAV02 Actinovate Fungicide for Lawn and Garden, 2-Ounce

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