Happy Mistakes, a guest post by Brian Burger

It is not a perfect world. We are all the better when reminded of that, though we sometimes resent the reminder. Few people find those reminders, and the healthy humility that comes from that, more often than farmers and gardeners.

To the crop farmer, there are countless variables to affect seed, germination, cultivation, production and harvest. To the animal famer, the reminders can be ever more poignant and even hurtful. Animals get in trouble. They are uncannily good at it, too! Ultimately there are animal losses which can be expensive in dollars, breeding and herd strategies and the most priceless of things—emotion. The gardener and backyard homesteader have these same issues. Often some of each—plant and animal. Often it is just as painful because the small scale further challenges merely “rolling with the punches.” You may be REALLY counting on something to “pan out.”

Let’s not forget there can be and are joys as well. Sometimes they are sudden or unexpected joys. Sometimes they are serendipitous and fortuitous rather than the result of any intentional effort or hard work. Sometimes they are even the results of mistakes. Kind of like, “who ever thought of sticking their chocolate into peanut butter?” But, wow…the results!!

I visited with my neighbor and friend recently, Penns Valley Community Learning Garden co-founder/partner, Warren Leitzel. I told him of a recent surprise and now hopeful result related to gardening. I had some old potted starting plants left from last season sitting in an unlikely place catching enough winter to be dormant but having enough protection not to have frozen out completely. Among theses a few herbs and some parsley. After seeing and dismissing these for weeks, my frugality kicked in. I moved them inside to the basement to thaw. Procrastination and doubt left them there a week. I moved them into a heated room to repot what appeared to be some still useful perennial herbs.

But there was that parsley. Oh well. I transplanted them into larger pots. In no time at all, in the dead of January, I had wildly happy and flourishing greenery in that room. I was thinking of a recipe or two to use the parsley cuttings since I do not currently have my own greenhouse or hoophouse to otherwise grow parsley through winter. Well, it wasn’t long before I was reminded of the biennial nature of parsley. I noted after the initial flush of vegetation, the leaf shape was changing on additional growth as well as a notable spike rising from the plant. This plant was going to flower and seed! It was in its second of a two-year maturity schedule.

Initially I was disappointed. I thought I’d get a second bout of vegetation. Instead, it would be just a little of that and then the plant would go to seed. Hmmmm. The wheels were turning. If this plant will flower and produce mature seed before the growing season, I will, in effect, have compressed a two-year plant cycle into one by mistakenly forcing the parsley after just a short respite in dormancy! A biennial sort of would become an annual, at least by the calendar’s standards. As an enthusiast seed-saver, this was entirely cool!

I explained all this to Warren in far less time than it took to type it here, and he smiled and said with his rather-always-confident air, “Oh yeah. I call those things ‘happy mistakes.’ ” So it will be. “Happy Mistakes.”

I hope to have mature and dry seed to direct sow this year’s parsley by Memorial Day. The plants are starting to flower with multiple, additional inflorescent umbels on the way. You’ll probably have to remind me to give you an update in 3 months.

Until then, may your forthcoming gardening and farming year be filled with intentional success….and maybe a few “happy mistakes.”

Brian B. Burger