A different version of yesterday's post (Clearing the decks)...

Moving all the plants from their (long term) temporary growing space in the peat pots in the plastic trays into the ground was a big step. I mean, the whole point of getting the plants started in the peat pots was to plant them, so anything short of planting them would have been a casual waste of effort.

It's a good skill to have to be able to plan a project from start to finish: get the seeds, get the pots, get the dirt, plants the seeds, water the seeds, transplant the seedlings, take care of the plants, and—hey presto—eat the vegetables. You can feel some pride after getting all those right for just one plant. A row of plants? Bonus. A garden of plants? Go get yourself a lottery ticket.

No project ever goes to plan. The garden didn't. (And it's just the end of June, so there's plenty of time left to crash or not crash the thing.) Because I had to build the retaining wall to get the space to garden, and then move the extra wall materials (for the front of the house for a future project) to clear space for the rest of garden, the started plants just had to sit around until they had somewhere to go. But here's the thing: they had to get started when they got started so that they'd be ready when they might be needed. That ball—that step of the project—had to be thrown up in the air with the hope that it would be caught on the way back down. It couldn't wait until the wall was done or the garden dirt was turned over, or the weather was good, or I had enough time away from class or work or home. It just had to be thrown if there was going to be a chance to make it work.