No plan survives first contact with the enemy. Nor the last contact.

I read somewhere that one of the most difficult military maneuvers to execute is to retreat in an orderly fashion from a superior force while taking fire and casualties. I believe it.

Fear and panic are baying at the retreating force's heels. Elements have to leap-frog with the rear position providing covering fire for the moving element. The moving element has to turn their back on the incoming fire and trust their buddies to do their job. Then, when the moving element reaches agreed-upon defensive positions, they must stop and provide covering fire for the buddies that had just previously done the same for them.

The overwhelming emotion is to depart from the field of battle as quickly as possible. It is an un-natural act to stop while still within range of the enemy, turn and return-fire while your buddies skedaddle.

There are a multitude of ways for the maneuver to turn to chaos and route. The primary fear is that you will be pinned-down and rolled-over by the enemy.

Planting season

Getting pinned-down and rolled-over is an apt description for late-planting season.

The grass needs mowing twice a week. Seeds are sprouting. Weeds are growing. Bamboo is invading. Bugs are swarming. Graduations. Weddings. Birthdays. Baby animals...

It is good to have a Go-to-Hell plan (i.e. Orderly Retreat under fire plan) that you activate when, well, things become overwhelming.

If you can hire a kid or an old-geezer, that is grand but good luck finding one.

The "Hardy Da Jang" citrus seeds I got are looking a little bit like Trifoliate Orange.

I am at the point where I am planting MANY seeds per pot and will let Darwin help me out.

In the garden, the usual progression is to carefully plant the potatoes and tomatoes and beans and corn and cucumbers...

Then, in a controlled panic to fill in the empty spaces with sprawling plants like winter squash and melons. That works because the sprawling vines can be planted June 10th (in Eaton County) and still have plenty of time to ripen.

Another Plan B is to plant root crops like beets, turnips, rutabagas as late as July 4th. The laziest of us broadcast turnip seeds over the squash vines where the plants will "smolder" until the frost kills the squash vines and they get full sunlight.

This next week looks like we will see our last risk of a killing frost with Tuesday and Friday mornings being worst.

Plan C is to broadcast Red Clover seeds in the unplanted areas of the garden after hitting-the-wall. Red Clover fixes nitrogen, can be dried down for hay for livestock, adds organic matter to the soil and bumps up numbers of "good" bacteria in the soil. Oh, and if it blooms it feeds the pollinating insects.

Plans never survive first contact with the enemy. Their value is that they give you the bones or outline that you can modify on-the-fly without having to synthesize all of the supporting details.