Some of our garden didn’t grow. It’s important to be honest.

First of all, none of our pumpkins grew. Last year, involuntary pumpkin vines wound around the hill on the backside of our deck. They were the offspring of Halloween pumpkins the boys pushed over the railing when they rotted. Surprise! In the summer, pumpkins grew, and we loved watching them! No such luck this year. This year, we deliberately placed some of those rotting ones in our backyard, to seed and grow naturally. Come summer, nothing. No vines, no pumpkins. Bummer. We were really hoping for a pumpkin patch. We’ll try again next year.

In the boys gardens, we didn’t have much luck with carrots. Rex and Morris both planted carrot seeds. When they pulled on the fine greens to collect what grew below, carrots the size of a pinkie finger came up from under the earth…if we were lucky. Most of the carrots were a hint of orange that was slightly thicker than the stem and about one inch long. We’ll try again next year.

No luck with potatoes either, the veggie Jude was most hoping to grow. He set aside four plots, but none of them prospered. When we pulled on the green, only the original potato we planted was there. Bummer for Jude. We’ll try again next year.

Some veggies weren’t quite the hit we were hoping. As two and four year-olds, Rex and Jude, loved to nibble on chives. They were kind of ignored this year – out-shined by mint and cucumbers – and chives never made it into one veggie dish. We never did anything with Jude’s sage either, even though he reminded me a few times it was hanging out in his garden.

All of these experiences serve as great tips for next year’s planting. Not failures.