Plan: Our 2024 Garden Plan + Goals
I used to be the kind of person who set very big and clear goals. I tend to like a challenge and I like to dream of everything being possible, so why not set really high goals for myself? But I’ve come to realize that this habit is actually a manifestation of an even worse habit of mine: control. I have an insatiable need to control the world around me. I always have, since I first realized this life was temporary and fleeting when I was 5 years old (my first existential crisis — a story for another day). The past few years have taught me lesson after lesson when it comes to that control-freak behavior of mine, and those lessons have all revolved around the common theme that is — shocker — control is an illusion and, actually, I shouldn’t want it. There’s a lot more magic when you simply sit in wonder without the tight grip of control. The garden is a place that will teach you that lesson in a really humbling but beautiful way.
Last year’s garden surprised and challenged me and then surprised me again. We grew the most beautiful spinach and lettuce I’ve ever grown, but lost all of our outdoor tomatoes to blight from the nonstop rain. I thought for sure the cold, wet summer would destroy our chili harvest, but I was very wrong and our freezers are still loaded with frozen jalapeños. I did everything right for beautiful heads of garlic, but lost 70% of our harvest to a little fly. And then, I thought I’d lose my onions to that same fly, but managed to pull the biggest and most beautiful onions that I grew from seed.
So now I find myself in sort of a limbo — let’s call it a period of growth — where I hesitate to make real plans for anything, because I want to let go of that anxious, fearful grip, but I still realize that I need to be organized and motivated in order to accomplish anything.
I say all this so that you’ll take this garden plan with a grain of salt. It’s just an idea of where things will go and what we will grow (not a complete list or diagram, by any means), so that I can make sure I’ve got my bases covered. Inevitably, I will plant too many jalapeños again out of panic and then just start shoving them in every little corner of the garden. The cilantro will likely bolt too early and I’ll regret not planting more. Without a doubt, the pests will destroy many of my visions, or like last year, the weather will take out any dream of a cherry tomato grown outside. The point is: the 2024 garden will evolve as it will and I’m good with that.
All that said, we do have a couple of things we want to focus our effort on this year:
Don’t let surrounding weedy areas go to seed
Harvest, process, and preserve in a timely manner to minimize wasted food
Get better at pruning our fruit trees
More flowers!!
This year, I am striving for this balance when it comes to the garden (and everything else): to set aside my ego as I diligently do the work, while maintaining gratitude for whatever rewards come my way.
Can’t wait to get my hands in the dirt!
