| I'm an enthusiastic but lousy gardener. Thankfully, | | | | enthused and the plants were small. But as they |
| Rick and I don't have to depend on my crops for | | | | grew, my dear vegetables succumbed to diseases, |
| survival. If we did, we'd be very hungry! My garden | | | | died inexplicably, or were stunted and |
| teaches me lessons the hard way-during the precious | | | | under-performing. I had not given them enough space |
| growing season. Then, it is too late for my crop and | | | | to thrive. The same principle applies to my |
| I have to wait until the next year to try again. If | | | | co-workers and me. Do we give ourselves enough |
| failures and mistakes are our best teachers, I've had | | | | psychological space to relax, unwind, and find our |
| many stellar learning opportunities! After 10 years of | | | | own unique nutrients? |
| many blunders, I'm beginning to learn some lessons. | | | | Plants need to be fed. Good soil = great vegetables. I |
| While I will never be an expert gardener, I'm slowly | | | | have started to take care of some worms in my |
| improving. Moreover, my list of plant needs work for | | | | basement (really!) so that I can harvest their |
| people too. Here's what I've been learning: | | | | excellent casings. Plants LOVE worm casings. It may |
| Plants need the right conditions. Gardening is very | | | | seem like a good deal of trouble, but just like people, |
| complicated. Each plant has an array of needs. I am | | | | plants need to be fed to stay healthy and productive. |
| constantly experimenting to see where different | | | | Aside from good nutritious food, how do you feed |
| crops will thrive. Do they want a sandy or alkaline | | | | yourself? |
| soil? Is this patch of ground full of nutrients or has it | | | | Sometimes, detective work and perseverance are |
| been depleted through overuse? How much sun does | | | | required. For the past several years, my squash and |
| this spot receive and is it early morning dappled light | | | | cucumber plants have been devastated without |
| or late afternoon heat? Is it too windy? Moisture | | | | yielding a single vegetable! At first, I assumed it was |
| levels and types of nearby plants affect success. | | | | "bad luck," but as the years continued without a |
| I was amazed to learn that when a plant is stressed | | | | single zucchini, I began to do some detective work. |
| from poor conditions, it can succumb to insects and | | | | Was this the work of the black walnut trees that |
| other parasites. When a plant is healthy and happy, it | | | | had demolished my tomatoes years ago? No, I had |
| can ward off insects. If this sound crazy, Google the | | | | moved my entire garden to avoid the poison emitted |
| article from Chemical and Engineering News titled, | | | | through the tree roots. Was it lack of water or too |
| "Plants Use Volatile Signaling Compounds to Fend Off | | | | much water? Did they need fertilizer? No. No. No. A |
| Attack and Possibly Warn Nearby Plants." (Warn | | | | google search revealed the culprit: the squash vine |
| nearby plants!?) Cornell University also writes about | | | | borer. This pernicious pest burrows into the ground |
| this phenomenon and The Middletown Journal says, | | | | so that next year it is ready to kill your new crop. I |
| "Stressed plants living in poor barren soil actually | | | | was advised to burn my old plants (I hadn't) and |
| attract pests and disease. Healthy plants in healthy | | | | either apply poison to the stems (tried that, didn't |
| soil are able to fend off most disease and insect | | | | work), inject good parasites into the stems |
| pests." | | | | (inject???), cover with mesh (only if soil isn't |
| Does this sound familiar? If I am in healthy | | | | infected-how can I be sure?), plant later in the |
| relationships, in an occupation that suits my talents | | | | season (tried, didn't work) or monitor daily to pick off |
| and interests, and get enough rest, play, and spiritual | | | | borer before they bore. Yikes! This was going to be |
| sustenance, I am more likely to fend off physical and | | | | a tough assignment. Why was this so hard for me? |
| emotional ailments. | | | | Co-workers were donating vast amounts of giant |
| For many years I worked in the theatre. I was often | | | | squash from their abundant crops. Why was my |
| angry, paranoid, envious and frightened. Then I gave | | | | garden so plagued? |
| up the theatre and took up my current position in | | | | Like an ardent Cub fan, I clung to the idea of "next |
| corporate training at a local community college. Since I | | | | year's win." But I was beginning to see that good luck |
| was no longer competing for much-coveted theatre | | | | wouldn't help me with the dreaded borer. I'm not |
| prizes or projects, I was suddenly relaxed. As I was | | | | sure of my plan for the coming season. Perhaps I'll |
| new to the field of corporate training, I didn't feel | | | | skip squash and cucumber for a couple of seasons. |
| afraid of failure, I was intrigued and grateful for the | | | | Or maybe I could create a fresh plot and cover with |
| job. The difference in my psychological state was | | | | mesh? Could I grow them inside? (I love garden |
| immediate and stunning. It was as if I had suddenly | | | | zucchini!) Whatever my plan, I see this challenge as a |
| been transplanted into the right soil for me. | | | | metaphor for the work of my soul. Some crops |
| Moreover, since I was happy and relaxed all the time, | | | | come easy to me: lettuce, beans (most of the time), |
| new lucrative opportunities appeared and I was | | | | spinach. These are like my natural skills and talents. I |
| ready for them. In the theatre, I was so stressed | | | | can be patient when someone is angry with me. I'm |
| that even when I found an opportunity, I was often | | | | very good at listening. But I'm impatient with certain |
| too tense to be successful. | | | | projects and can struggle with some kinds of |
| I was the same person but in a better location. | | | | criticism. These are my unique challenges. I can do |
| Finding the right "soil" for ourselves is key. What do | | | | detective work and discover the source of my |
| you need in your work? Extraversion? Creativity? | | | | dis-ease and then I can search for solutions. My |
| Competition? Routine? Stability? Excitement? I have | | | | challenges are different from my neighbors' problems. |
| seen --in my garden and in myself-- that the | | | | I don't need to compare myself. I only need to seek |
| appropriate environment is the difference between | | | | my own distinct remedies. |
| disease and health. | | | | Pull up the small weeds before they get big: Despite |
| Stressed plants produce little. If a plant is stressed it | | | | my use of mulch (which led to slug problems), I am |
| will, like many people, struggle valiantly against | | | | forced to weed regularly. I'm always surprised at |
| mounting foes but yield little. I'm reminded of a | | | | how much I enjoy weeding, when I finally start. It is |
| yellow, pock-marked bean plant that only produced | | | | a wonderful, visceral metaphor of rooting out |
| one or two beans during the entire season. Before | | | | problems. After several hours, I see a clean area of |
| wasting too many more resources, I yanked it up | | | | soil. If only I could weed out my bad habits or |
| and started over. Likewise, are we willing to pull the | | | | perceptions so quickly! As a manager, I also need to |
| plug on our ambitions and plans and change course | | | | pull out the small weeds--negative misunderstandings |
| when a situation isn't working for us? A friend, Mona, | | | | or attitudes-- before they become big intractable |
| is true to her name: she moans a lot. She's extremely | | | | problems for my team. |
| unhappy in her job and has talked about leaving it for | | | | Seasons change: A garden is not a static place. Not |
| many years. As her unhappiness has grown, she has | | | | only do seasons change, but year to year, the |
| developed a chronic crabbiness and reacts angrily | | | | amount of rain, sun, heat, and wind can differ |
| when hearing about another's good fortune. Mona is | | | | drastically. Two years ago, a huge brood of |
| terrified of change and so, even though she is | | | | chipmunks decimated my tomatoes as they ripened. |
| desperate to quit, she struggles to keep positive and | | | | The next year they left my crop in peace. |
| not let her mounting anxiety, depression, and rage | | | | Tending a vegetable garden (or the garden of my |
| show through. She continues, like my ailing plants, to | | | | soul) requires me to be attentive to the actual |
| persevere. And like my plants, her afflictions are | | | | conditions of today (not yesterday or tomorrow). I |
| obvious to everyone around her. Like an ailing plant, | | | | learn to be in the flow of life, the Tao. Most |
| Mona may produce a bean or two but she spends | | | | importantly, I learn humility. Nature is generous with |
| most of her energy fighting enemies from without | | | | delicious treats. She is also mysterious and powerful. I |
| and within. | | | | cannot dictate my will to Her. Instead, I must learn |
| Plants need room. As a new gardener, I often tried | | | | from her and be patient. |
| to place too many plants within a small space. I was | | | | |