Creating a garden you love
Hi, welcome to the blog!
My first blog post! Eeek! Let’s get gardening (only like 7 months away) but still, I’m excited.
Why talk about gardening right before winter?
Even though the gardening season is over in most places, planning the spaces you want for the spring is important. It gives you time to get inspiration whether that be from books, other gardeners, friends, or your favorite YouTuber. It helped me stay creative and feel more alive in the coldest part of the year. Creating a garden you love starts with inspiration. I’ve found that if you’re not inspired to do something then you probably won’t be motivated to do it either.
I’ve been vegetable gardening for three years now but like many did last year, I was 24-7 thinking, eating, sleeping gardening. I took inspiration from Creators like Roots and Refuge, Whispering Willow farm, and Floret Farm, consuming gardening content nonstop. I was motivated to take on a major garden expansion, letting my creativity run wild. I’m sure my neighbors thought I was absolutely crazy, at one point I thought I was too; out in the mud, digging around, with massive piles of dirt, compost, and mulch every day.
The garden transformation
My first garden was just three raised beds and quickly grew to 10. The project I was most excited about was the arch trellis. All of my favorite gardens have them arranged in tunnels filled with beans and peas. The only trip I’ll ever take to tractor supply in my life but worth it. The livestock panel was bent into an arch vertically, changing the entire feeling of the garden. One project led to another led to another and I ended up adding paths, a compost bin, arched trellises, and a DIY fence for the whole space.
Finding a way
Sometimes inspiration comes easily but then you realize oh I actually have to find a way to make this happen. I hit a lot of roadblocks along the way. How do I get this 16 ft. long trellis home? Who’s going to help me shovel all this compost? Even creating this blog has been a huge learning curve for me. Sometimes you just need to stop, take a break, and feel good about what you have accomplished. Just a little progress each day is all it takes.
No Pressure
Letting go of all expectations is difficult. I wanted to spend all day every day in the garden, but sometimes you forget to water, forget to prune the tomatoes or harvest each when it’s ripe and that’s ok. In the end, the garden is still going to be beautiful and full of produce ready to harvest. Our job as gardeners is to tend and nurture the garden along as we can. I learn more from sitting back and watching than obsessing over every detail. The garden will be wild so let it be.
Make it yours
Adding produce you actually will eat is big. I probably won’t grow beets again, we just don’t eat them but I love raspberries so I grow more of those. I’ve never grown sunflowers before, this year was a first and I was amazed at how fast they grew. 7ft tall they took over the garden and immediately made me smile. Make the garden yours. Add a sign with your name, a teepee trellis, hang a wind chime that’s special to you or grow your favorite flower. Whatever it is beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I realized that the only opinion that mattered was mine and if I see the beauty that’s all that mattered. The garden is just waiting for you to make your mark. You got this!