Our scope of attention is small, and what we see is never everything that can be seen.

In this age of Youtube, Instagram and facebook, we are able to access images, genius hacks, ideas and information incredibly rapidly. Yet what we see is never the full picture.

Even visiting other people’s gardens or farms in real life, we can’t access the full depth and breadth of each others’ life experiences or the range of skills, work, weather conditions, support, infrastructure, luck and privilege that contextualises what we see of their lives.

So this means we should only compare when it helps us to grow and learn in very specific ways. Never when it makes us more stuck or paralyses us in inaction.

Comparison can sometimes provide you with new insights about your values or interests: For example, if you get excited about unusual kinds of veg, perhaps that is a signal that you could lean into growing certain exotic, rare, or heirloom species. Yet you have to somehow contextualise that impulse: Do you also love growing bulk staples? Where will your various interests fit, and how will you allocate your time?

If I see that my neighbour’s brussel sprouts are growing really well, whereas mine are not, this can help me hone in on what my challenge might be. But even when it’s my neighbour, a few meters away, I often cannot get to the bottom of a problem through comparison. Growing involves too many variables: light, temperature, soil, our ability (time and water availability) to support supportive conditions in our plants.

Almost all of the time, careful observation of my own growing conditions will provide me with more answers than comparison. Comparison may be helpful in pointing me towards things I didn’t know I cared about (e.g. growing exotic veg!) or reminding me that something is not inherently impossible, and therefore giving me a nudge to look more closely and what makes something possible.

Last week, after an entire season of being depressed about one garden’s failure, irrigation finally made it to the top of our to-do list. Eugene quickly discovered a leak in our irrigation. Plants hadn’t been getting water most of the season! I had known it was a water problem, but I didn’t look too closely because I didn’t think I’d have capacity to fix it this season. In fact, while our irrigation has other issues, this specific issue was easily fixed at zero cost. I had a quick moment of feeling foolish.

This time of year, I think about 80% of our growing problems are related to water stress. Our personal water stress (I’m so hot!!! It’s super hard to work outside during the super hot hours I actually have some available time!!!) and those of the plants (they’re not getting sufficient water!). Comparison, even with previous seasons, can be a distraction away from facing our realities and deciding how to respond. It’s tempting to fantasise about incredible hacks or silver bullet solutions rather than face the leak right in front of us.

Instead, let’s look closely and facing our own reality without flinching or wishing for something different. Then: quickly learn from mistakes, writing notes to our future selves, preferably on a specific date and with a specific action.

Here’s to looking closely and growing together this year. Let me know how it’s going!!!

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