My wife, Queen Janetta came up with this title when she saw what happened to the Georgia Hybrid Collard Greens that we planted in the garden. This was our first year planting this vegetable, so our only experiences with Greens were faint memories from childhood. As the plants grew we were very proud and we daily watered them and removed weeds. One evening we noticed that bugs had attacked one plant and I said that I would get some spray the next day. Well, by the next morning all of my plants had holes in them. It was too late but I went out before work and purchased the spray. We thought this mishap was an indicator of many scenarios in life. Below are three quick observations that we took away from this experience.

1. Do not fret over the problem.
You cannot cry over losses that have already occurred. To complain was our first response. We even asked a crazy question, “where did theses bugs come from?” Do not lose time in remorse. For a while when something challenging happens the normal human response is to be upset and brood over the issue. The pouting or whining over the problem only takes you down a long path of destruction.

2. Immediately spend the resources to alleviate the problem.

First do all the things that do not cost much money. In our case we first removed some of the damaged leaves. When money is necessary do not fear to promptly produce your investment. We were not excited about going to the Lowe’s in Bessemer and paying for more gardening supplies but either we were committed to growth or we were pretending.

3. Make the adjustment and continue to apply the things necessary for growth.
You are aware of the loss so now you must adjust your expectation for yield. We planted a lot of greens and we even talked about having them throughout the entire winter but now our expectation had to be altered. This is what you must do in life sometimes. Make the adjustment and enjoy the fruit that makes it through the antics of life. Now, we had to apply faith by continuing to water damaged plants. If watering and fertilizing is necessary don’t be afraid to be patient and work through a mess.
I am proud to report that we harvested a batch of those Georgia Hybrid Collard Greens and it appears that the garden will yield another batch really soon.

What are you going to do when the enemy has eaten you up??