Finding your groove in the garden
There’s so much to explore, a seemingly endless list of tasks & most often a a little uncertainty around where to start. My usual way is to start multiple tasks & just see what happens from there – pretty much the opposite way my husband works !
Well I’ve just about made it though summer, the trials, excitement, abundance and apprehension around the next step. So many rewards and so much learning on the way.
Now is a great time to time to catch your breath, exhale &….plot out the next few steps.
Work out what you want for the cooler season, start a list and just find a rhythm.
Here on the coast, it’s a subtle winter. Not much in the way of extreme temperatures & frosts aren’t something we have to worry about.
If you’d like to grow garlic, may need to play a bit of a trick on it, pop it in the fridge to make it think it’s enjoyed a few weeks of chilly winter. Better crack on, as it’s time to plant while there’s still a little warmth in the soil.
Anything you really love (like broccoli, cauliflower & the like) is good to plant now, as it needs to grow a bit before the cool of the season) don’t forget to protect from evil white cabbage butterflies & make sure you’ve given the soil a good feed for these hungry brassicas. They’ll also need lots of sunlight too.
There’s also the jobs of keeping the worms (garden ones in containers) fed. Tidy up any weedy piles left lying around. Keep turning that compost.
Cycles may slow, the workload may slow, but gardens aren’t static spaces – there’s always a hum of life somewhere to appreciate.
Quite honestly, working out what the garden needs is one thing & a significant learning – but even moreso, is working out what you’re capable of an unveiling those superpoewrs. Gardening may not be for everyone, BUT you may find you’re a budding entomologist, aspiring cloud spotter, assembler of foraged botanicals, worm farmer or recorder of observations. Maybe even just a sharer of stories or appreciator of the great outdoors.
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Start small and build your practice! Take it from one who didn’t.