too much dirt...or too little...or

My rows of beans, carrots and beets that were planted on 5/20 have yet to break free from the soil. This is not a good sign. It usually does not take three weeks to germinate. I have tried to delude myself that some weeds were actually beans, but I know that the weeds will look even more like weeds and less like vegetables when I return to my garden on Friday. In addition to a healthy does of denial, I am still trying to figure out what I did wrong. Either I planted the seeds too deeply and they didn't have enough energy to make it to the surface, or I planted them to shallow and the heavy rains washed away the seeds. It is also possible that the seeds didn't receive enough moisture during germination. There is also option "d", none of the above.

I think we are usually conditioned to think that we can learn from experience. However, gardening regularly challenges this thought. After many springs, one might have a better grasp, but there are so many things that are just unknown to the novice. Although frustrating, it is probably good that I can't research out the answer or test my hypothesis. Instead, I can simply shrug my shoulders and plant again on Friday.