When you've tried gardening more than once, and you always have a great crop of lettuce and green beans, but the broccoli and tomatoes always get eaten up by bugs, it is ok to give up! But don't give up on everything! You're growing lettuce and green beans just wonderfully!

There are any number of problems that can make you feel like a failure in the garden, in spite of lovely crops in other areas. Sometimes certain crops just don't like your soil, they don't thrive in your climate, or they are prone to pests that are especially aggressive where you are located.

It is ok to decide NOT to grow things that are especially troublesome. One of the rules of success is to do more of what works, less of what does not. That doesn't mean you grow only lettuce and green beans, it may mean figuring out why those two things do well, and then expanding with other things that thrive under similar conditions.

Taking a break from growing things that don't do well not only helps you focus on success for a while, it gives the garden a rest, and gives you time to address potential underlying problems without the pressure of this year's crop looming over you. You can use the time to build the soil, give it a rest from infestation of certain pests, or work on balancing things out in other ways, or even put in structures that may help you be more successful in the long term.

If what you are doing isn't working in one area, it is ok to take time off and enjoy the things that do well. Eventually an idea will occur to you, or an opportunity will come to help you try again in a new way with the things that didn't do well.

As long as you are growing things that you enjoy having on your table, you're a success as a gardener! You don't have to be able to grow everything. There is wisdom in knowing when to let go and either take time off or just let it go altogether. Either one is ok.