Things I should have known by now

At my advanced age, the number of things that I haven’t yet learned (or have forgotten) is still surprising.  Here’s a few of yesterday’s revelations:

1. Cleaning the Front Island, which is located around and under black walnut trees, without a hard hat on a windy day can be dangerous!  Here are some photos of the  4 loads of walnuts that I took out of this one garden…many of them were launched and landed within a hair’s breadth of my body!  OK, you get the picture…there are 3 more, but I’ll spare you the download time.
2. Since black walnut trees and all their parts are toxic to most plants, putting the leaves I took out of the garden into the compost pile is a bad, bad idea.  I caught myself on that mistake just in the knick of time!
3. A job is not over, until it’s over….observe the Front Island today  I’m going to wait for a still day.  It’s windy and hazardous today.
4. Hostas need water.  Yes, I knew that, but when we added guttering to the screened porch, I didn’t think, and didn’t compensate for the new, much drier conditions.  Thus I have ugly hostas that look like this!   Embarassing!
5. Lost tools never show up until you buy their replacement.
6. The “days to maturity” on seed packets is determined for late spring/early summer conditions.  In fall, as days grow shorter and light is weaker, additional days must be added….I probably have not added enough, so unless we have a late, late frost or put on polytunnels, some things probably won’t produce. (sigh…)
7. If one seeds in every space as it becomes available to extend the season, suddenly it is time to plant garlic, and there is NO SPACE for it!!!  Hmmm.  What’s going to be sacrificed?  Probably will harvest the basil and most of the pepper plants?
8. If one has not seeded beans at the correct time, there are no beans to eat, except the ones just canned.  Make a note in the planting journal for next year!
9. If one goes on vacation, the squash bugs win.  Trust me, you don’t want to see the photos of dead, dead vines…..
10. If one actually cuts bouquets from a Cutting Garden, it shouldn’t need deadheading.  Obviously, I’m terrible at remembering to make bouquets.  This gomphrena and blue salvia is long past pretty.
11. The garden season never lives up to the long, excited anticipation that grows into fantasy during the long winter.  I always feel let down, that I didn’t do it quite right, that there were too many should-have-dones, that the season was WAY TOO SHORT!