The Expectation Trap: Perfection

If you don’t have your own garden, homestead, or farm, entertain this short mental exercise. Think of a vegetable garden and pay attention as the HGTV version of this materializes in your mind. Isn’t it beautiful!? Hold the image…its flawless, not a weed in sight. The rows are perfectly straight. There is no bug damage on any of the plants.

Perfect, yes…but is it functional?

And the person tending to this TV studio garden has a permanent smile on their face…as if their lower back is impervious to the ache caused by bending, lifting, and carrying. Moreover, their hands, despite toiling in the soil, have somehow avoided becoming dirty. WOW. I can almost sense the expression on the collective readership’s faces, especially those who know better.

Although we know the reality of homesteading is far from the aforementioned fairy tale, we still get caught up in trying to create it on our own property. In the real world, our ancestors were more concerned with crops growing than making sure the garden was picture-ready. Sometimes, weeds…aka “grass,” will grow. Despite our best efforts, a row may not be aligned perfectly. Although we should do our best to keep things at bay that would undermine the abundance of our prospective harvest, this should not drive us to have an anxiety attack because our garden doesn’t look like the perma-happy person’s artwork in the HGTV example.

A homesteader’s focus should be on the ultimate prize: a bountiful harvest. If in pursuit of that goal you find yourself with the perfect garden, all praise be to you! However, I will ask you something. Does that magazine cover garden’s vegetables taste better? Are they more nutritious?

Unpopular opinion time. If your concern is your garden being picture perfect, you have missed the point of homesteading.

Don’t stress over some weeds, our ancestors didn’t. Don’t become a slave trying to create a Martha Stewart garden or farm, our ancestors didn’t do that either. Look forward to how happy you will when you are filling totes with the fruit of your labor!