The school of failure

Lessons come when you arent really looking for them. Yesterday, by chance, I watched an interview with David Holmgren in which he makes a comment about goals. He says, in talking about reading landscape, that

 "if we are in a rush, if we want to acheive some goal...then this doesnt sort of really help. We've got to be prepared to be just open and we accumulate understanding that turns out to be useful. In some context...over time...But if we are goal oriented and if we are in a rush then, you know... then its better to go off and get the recipe out of a book or do what your told, or, you know, people go, how can I learn by just staring at...you know, what is it? Where is the answer? Just tell me!"

I experienced this  wisdom in a very practical way. We have two large vegetable bins that we planned to turn into wicking beds. We sourced them from a property about 40 minutes away, paying $40 each, and driving out there with a trailer to pick them up. We went to a bit of trouble to get them. They were moved around into various positions, and finally found a place where they settled and seemed to make sense.  I was very tempted to rush out and buy everything we needed to get them operational immediately.Tempted as I usually am to try and do everything at once.  I got the weed mat, a roll of black plastic. I enquired about scoria at our local sand and soil. Hmm...$35 per half metre. I was very excited about adding another string to our self supporting bow, but I put it off, thinking I couldnt justify it financially and would have to wait. And deep inside, I knew it was good to wait. The bins continued to sit empty. Weeks passed. Then months.  I focused on other things. We planted some beans, snow peas, broccoli, garlic and other vegetables. Occasionally I would think about the bins as I went about chopping wood, or tending the compost or doing other things. The vegetables sprouted and started to grow. The bins continued to sit empty.

 Soon I  was coming up for three weeks holidays. Tired from long hours, and weary of the day job, I thought to myself , when I am on holidays I will finally  have time to finish the wicking beds. Then, unexpectedly, one day before I was to begin my holidays, I came across half a metre of scoria being given away free on a social media site.  This was exactly what I needed for the wicking beds. By slowing down and being patient, a solution presented itself.  Again, I drove out to pick it up from someones driveway with a trailer. Shovelled and wheelbarrowed it into the trailer by hand. Going to a bit of trouble.

Then I had another opportunity to learn this wisdom in the reverse. With my half metre of scoria and all the other materials I had accumulated, I was ready to begin the construction of my wicking bed.

I spent an afternoon measuring out and cutting squares of carpet I had gotten free from a carpet retailer, lining the bins with black garden plastic I paid good money for,  shovelling in the scoria, cutting, fitting and laying the slotted ag pipe, drilling and fitting an overflow piple and finally, stapling the plastic to the edge of the bin and fitting the weed mat ready for soil to be added. Once again, I was very happy and excited,.  I thought I would test it before I put the soil in, and started filling the inlet pipe with the hose. I soon realized I had made a mistake. By rushing out to get black plastic and not thinking it through properly, i had lined my bins with plastic that wasnt all of one piece,  (I know, Der!) so that when I began filling the bins with water, it leaked out through the gaps in the plastic where it overlapped, and my wicking bed was more like a sieve than a wicking bed. It was a silly mistake.   I was very frustrated with myself. But my lessons in the  school of failure, continue.