When the bare minimum is not enough
I spent today working compost in to my garden plot and planting the early vegetables - things that will tolerate a spring frost. My compost heap, however, failed me. For two years, all I've composted is various yard waste, including shrub clippings, grass clippings, and the fall leaves. Because my garden plot is actually a plot this year, and not potted herbs, the amount of compost I had on hand was scant for working into the thick clay that lurks a half-inch beneath the ground.
There is a lesson here. I thought I had been very virtuous about preparing my compost heap. I'd carefully husbanded all the yard waste I could into that spot, turned it over occasionally, and mixed it in with a little of the aforementioned clay in order to retain the heat of decomposition. When the time came, however, I had insufficient resources to accomplish my goal.
I, of course, have no one to blame here but myself. I could have been composting my kitchen waste as well. I could have laid in a pile of compost from the city for next to nothing - merely the price of gas and a token for my friend whose truck I would borrow. I didn't. As a result, I had to make a choice: make do or spend for expensive garden store bagged organics. I chose to make do. I had enough to cover my plot with about a quarter inch of the rich black compost I did have. Hopefully it will be enough. If not, I will know better next year.
There is a parallel to be drawn here. A lot of times, I see people - and not just Wiccans or Pagans - refuse to do something because they realize the task they are about to undertake is a lot more daunting, a lot more work, and perhaps a lot more pain than they had expected. When you give up in those circumstances, you're denying yourself a chance to learn and a chance to grow. We all have finite opportunities in this life. Refusing to grasp an opportunity when it presents itself is a waste. Seize all of the opportunities you can, especially the ones that will lead to certain failure, because those are the ones you'll learn enough from.
As for my garden, it may fail miserably. But if it doesn't, I'll have enough fresh kohlrabi and chard for the whole summer and fall. And I love kohlrabi.