You win some, you lose some

In the beginning, when the kids were young, I had problems picking out the strongest, healthiest, most viable of the bunch. They all looked alike in their infancy. Sure one stood up a bit straighter, had leaves a bit more bushy and outgoing, dug its water grubbing roots deeper than its slightly frailer neighbor. But is that a reason for uprooting and tossing onto the compost pile, a mass grave of the weak? What about the tortoise and the hare fable, I used to say to myself. They should all get a chance.
Two months later I wade through the sea of zucchini and summer squash, pumpkins overflow onto the lawn, the bushes of beans are weighed down with their crispy green load. I didn't even KNOW that I had string beans until about a week ago! I have been wondering for weeks ever since the little speckled beans sprouted and began to climb the tepees I dutifully erected, what are these bean plants going to look like? I've obviously seen string beans before, as well as yellow wax beans, but those beans I planted look nothing like that! So one sunny afternoon last week (never, ever touch a bean plant when its wet! It will rust. What does it do when it rusts, and what exactly do rusting bean plants look like? I have no freakin idea!), I gently pushed aside a vine to pluck some weeds, and what do you know, there are tiny string beans, delicate as Christmas ornaments, decorating the shaded stems. Every day there is a surprise.
Unfortunately, sometimes things don't work out as well as you had hoped. Take my cauliflower for instance. Yep, that's him up there. He was growing so well. I plucked the green worms away, shook the earwigs down the stalk every once in a while, tied up his inner leaves to keep his lumpy face unblemished... He was doing so much better than his brother down the row who was clearly stunted and was bitter to the taste. Who do you care for more? The one who's thriving or struggling? The choices that caregivers must make! Turns out it didn't matter because after all this care it rained for two weeks straight. Not a light sprinkling or an occasional thundershower, we are talking constant gray skies and downpours. We gardeners went from praying for rain to praying for a respite. And that much rain (with more in the forecast) is not great for gardens. My cauliflower sucked it up like a thirsty college kid at happy hour. But my cauliflower just would not 'break the seal' and obviously absorbed more than he could handle.
So when I picked my little guy yesterday I broke off the leaves around the crown and tore off a tiny bite to take a nibble. But didn't- because it was rotting. From the inside (Isn't that a Smiths song?). So I chopped up my veggie child and tossed him in with the rest of the compostables. It was hard to do, and his brother didn't fare any better, but these are the life and death lessons you learn in the garden. It is not for the faint of heart.
But on the bright side, the other picture is all of the veggies that survived.
At least until they reached my dinner plate.