Preferring the better over the good

Getting your

I have never been consistently successful at starting pepper plants inside from seed, but I have tried it with varying degrees of success. I recall one attempt when I planted the tiny seeds in a container. I moved them inside when the nights were cold and took them outside during the day, placing them where they could get adequate sunlight. After babying them for several weeks, the weather got warm enough to transplant them to the garden. They fared well and started to grow, but after a while they appeared sickly and did not set fruit. They were planted next to my sweet corn, and the corn thrived while the peppers remained stagnant. Then an interesting turn of events took place after the corn was harvested and the stalks were removed–the peppers took on new life and provided us with plenty of sweet bell peppers. What brought about the change? The much taller corn stalks blocked a great deal of sunlight and hindered the struggling pepper plants. Once the competition for light was removed, things drastically improved for the peppers.

A lot of things in life compete for our time and energy. Even good things often get in the way of b...