It's ok to make mistakes

I have to admit that fall snuck/sneaked* up on me this year. It's been a long summer, full of new things: trying out the farmer's market, growing in 3 locations, and succession planting on a scale I've never done before. But with the beautiful growing season (the tomatoes are still going crazy!) I totally forgot that autumn was right around the corner. Is this a big deal? Thankfully no, but I did miss planting fall radish, a few fall root crops, and most of the fall lettuce.

So this leads me to my point: as an urban farmer, it is ok to make mistakes. Although there is nothing as sweet as home-grown food, we are in the fortunate position of being able to buy food from local farmers' markets and around the world. So I am going to cut myself some slack and move on.

Don't let fear of screwing up keep you from starting a garden or growing a few patio plants. If you need  encouragement, here are a few common urban farm errors that I have made just this year:

• Go on vacation and don't set up irrigation (this is especially an issue with potted tomato plants).

• Go inside for lunch and forget that your chickens are still running around the yard. Find them later that evening (close to fox dinner time) wandering around the neighbor's yard.

• Forget to harvest zucchini until it's the size of a 6 month old Labrador puppy (this mistake can be forgiven by making zucchini bread out of the giant squash).

• Plant 30 (or some other large, unreasonable number) of eggplants, having forgotten that you are the only member of your family that remotely enjoys eggplant (this error leads to giving away vegetables to neighbors and friends, so things can turn out well in the end).

This week at the urban farm:

The lower home plots last week. I have really enjoyed the sunflowers, but they are so large this is probably their one cameo appearance at the urban farm.

Next year-- more plum tomatoes! I forgot over the winter how much I love to can. 

I've been really pleased with these "Glow" sweet peppers. They are thick-walled and very prolific in our Wisconsin cool summers, and they will turn a beautiful orange if I leave them alone long enough. 

A nice shot of one of our flower beds.

Have a great week and enjoy the fall weather!

*I prefer "snuck" as the past tense of "sneak," but I'm sure my English teacher and writer friends will appreciate that I acknowledge the more correct "sneaked." English teacher and writer friends, please comment on this and any other grammar issues I have if you have the time.