It’s that season, Gardeners! The year is young, and we look ahead with fresh optimism. We make resolutions about what we will do better this year than last. There are the usual ones. “I’m going to eat healthier, get more exercise, lose weight and find time for stress relief and socializing with my friends. Really, this year I mean it.” These are all good goals, but they sometimes feel hard to put into action. Maybe setting a few gardening resolutions would feel less intimidating, more doable. And they could help you enjoy gardening (even) more than you already do. So, here are some simple gardening resolution ideas to help get you started.
Spend time in your garden
Whether you’re growing vegetables, ornamentals or everything in between, you can’t effectively tend a garden you don’t know. When you’re in your garden, you can see where the sun strikes at different times of day and how that changes over the seasons. You can see which plants are doing well, and which may need a little help. You can spot disease or insect problems early and take care of them through easy hand removal or cultural changes. And if tasks seem overwhelming, spending a short time on them every day can make them easier, at least mentally. As one of my gardening friends says, “Come a lot; do a little.” You’ll be more successful in the long run if you garden a little bit every day than if you try to do everything one or two days a week.
Become a better observer
Being in your garden is great. Training yourself to attend to what your garden is telling you while you’re there is even better. We tend to be very visual, but even so we miss seeing things if we’re preoccupied or simply running through a mental checklist. When you go into your garden, take some time to simply see (after you’ve gone through your list of things to check on), without expectation or agenda.
You might marvel at the beauty of your flashy trout back lettuce leaves or notice the iridescent green of a native bee pollinating one of your flowers. By listening, you might notice a bird has built a nest in your Australian finger lime tree, or that there’s a sound of gurgling water that isn’t usually there. Finally, if you have time to sit in a comfy spot and close your eyes, you might smell the scent of different crops that are flowering, or fruits that are ripening. Feel the temperature of the soil. This type of observing can help you get to know what is typical for your garden, so when something is not right, you will notice.
Write things down
A few observations may stick with us, but many will not. Writing them down each day after being in the garden can help us avoid making the same mistakes season after season. At the same time, we may have insights or ideas about how we want to change things in our garden. Having a garden planner can help some people feel motivated to write, and it can help organize observations and thoughts. But any old notebook where you can jot down a few thoughts will do the job.
Embrace the Zen of weeding
There’s just no way around it. Weeds will find a way, even with a good layer of mulch and our best bed prep. That means we must weed. Sometimes it’s still just a chore. But when we’re able to get mentally into a flow, it can be calming. Satisfying even. And there are strategies to help you get there. Maybe you can listen to a new album or audiobook on your headphones while you weed. Or perhaps you could enjoy a good long chat with a friend you haven’t seen for a while, either over the phone or in person if they’re willing to help. You could even practice observing while you’re weeding. Finding a strategy to keep your mind from racing will make you forget about the time and look forward to your next opportunity to practice some weeding meditation.
Incorporate Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ principles into your vegetable garden
Even if you’re aware of the Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ program, you might not think of it in the context of growing your own food. But our vegetable plants are part of our landscape. Following the nine Florida-Friendly principles will benefit your landscape as well as our native ecosystems. And they are easy to implement in the vegetable garden.
A key principle is planting the right crop in the right place, and for vegetables, at the right time. If we use drip irrigation, we are watering efficiently. If we use UF IFAS fertilizer recommendations we’ll enhance the health of our plants and avoid nutrient run-off into creeks, rivers and marshes. You may not be used to mulching your vegetables, but it will help retain moisture and keep weed growth down, just as it does around ornamental plants. Planting herbs like dill, fennel and parsley provides larval food sources for native butterflies. Growing native vegetables like Seminole pumpkin or fruits like muscadine grapes minimizes need for fertilizer and pesticides and helps you manage pests responsibly. Check out all the principles here.
Learn something new
One of the nice things about gardening is that there is always more to learn. And these days there are so many ways we can learn from each other. A simple way is to trade seeds or cuttings with a gardening friend who has something you have never grown before. Figure out what it likes and needs and see how it fits into your garden. If it’s edible, try a new recipe with it. If you prefer to learn in a more formal setting, sign up for one of our classes to learn about something you’ve always wanted to explore. We have classes in person, online, on weekdays and weekends. You can see all the class offerings on Eventbrite, and you’ll receive notifications of new classes if you follow us. And finally, for quick learning bites, check out our Facebook and Instagram sites.
Implementing gardening resolutions like these is easy to do. And if you’re able to follow them, you just might find yourself making progress on those physical and mental health goals too!
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