Imperfect Beginnings

If you wait until everything is perfect, you’ll never get anything done.

With several big projects still in motion, we didn’t have time to prepare proper rows for our sunflowers this season — so we made do with the space we had. Was it the vision I’d imagined? Not even close. But it was a chance to learn, and we took it.

We found a few raised beds on sale (thank goodness for that!) and pieced together what we could. Then came the next challenge: keeping the deer and rabbits at bay. We built a temporary fence — not pretty, but functional — and I’ll share more about that adventure later.

Even though the setup looked like chaos, something beautiful happened: the flowers grew. Against all odds, despite every obstacle Mother Nature threw at us, they bloomed.

Because our well wasn’t ready yet, we hauled multiple five-gallon buckets of water up the mountain each week. Somewhere in the middle of that sweaty routine, we had a much-needed vacation come up — right in the middle of a stretch of heat and drought. I was desperate to save what I could, planning to harvest what was ready and nurse the rest back to life.

There was just one problem: we forgot to plan how to get inside the deer fence. The choice was to go over or under — neither ideal — but I was determined. In the end, I did manage to save quite a few blooms. Unfortunately, raising the bottom of the fence just enough to squeeze through also gave the rabbits an invitation to dinner.

Sigh.

Thankfully, they must have gotten full before finishing the buffet, because a few sunflowers survived. Out of more than 250 plants, only about a dozen made it to harvest — but those twelve stood tall as proof that we can do this.

And honestly, that’s all that matters. 🌻