Overwhelm in the Garden: Part Two
I’m not going to lie, I have a love-hate relationship with social media because it always leaves me feeling behind the eight ball on productivity. I see a carousel of photos from someone’s weekend and I feel frustrated by not getting as much done as they did with all my free time. This is made all the more frustrating by the fact that I had a great, restful weekend and just didn’t feel compelled to document and post it. I’m someone who tries to stay present, and often I forget to take photos in the process. Exhibit A, I had a consult last week and forgot to take a photo of the garden space until I was driving away.
Happy microgreens growing under my new lights!
This morning, I logged onto Instagram to see so many seedlings sprouting up on my feed that I felt an instant sense of panic. I felt so behind. I had to quickly remind myself that I have a planting schedule that suits my time and my garden, and other gardeners might be on different schedules. Plus, I had grown some microgreens over the weekend, and I had even taken some photos.
This brings me to this week’s topic of garden overwhelm. The second most common cause of overwhelm I found in the survey I mentioned last week was the question of when to plant. My answer to action has three parts.
Overwhelmed by when to plant?
1) Divide what you want your plant into seasons.
Last week, I gave you all my meal plan worksheet so you could decide what you wanted to grow. Once you have a list of what you want to grow, it’s important to know what season those plants thrive within so you can begin to plan out your plantings.
If you’re new to gardening or just want a refresher for what grows when, I’m hosting FREE weekly workshops where we go through our meal plan lists and learn what vegetables grow in what season. This is key to making a planting plan, and I hope you’ll join me in one of these workshops when you’re ready to make a garden plan. This week’s workshop is being held in partnership with Kvell Fitness + Nutrition. You can find that and other events by clicking below.
2) Make a planting schedule
I start a lot of plants from seed, direct sow and transplant in my garden. This can be overwhelming even for me to keep track of, so I have calendared out my planting plan starting February 15. That’s when I know I’ll have my soil prepared and ready for planting, so I don’t really do much in the way of seedlings until then. Starting February 15, I have a weekly calendar date of what I’m sowing directly outside, what I’m starting from seed, and eventually, what I’m transplanting out.
These calendar to-do’s are going to be part of my weekly emails for the Boise Kitchen Garden Club. If having a weekly nudge to get your garden tasks done would help you stay on track, the Boise Kitchen Garden Club will keep you accountable. In BKGC, you’ll get a monthly e-book on what to plant and when to plant it (early in the month, in the middle of the month or later on), along with weekly emails on what exactly to sow in the garden that week.
In order to get the most out of the spring session, you’ll have to sign up by the end of this month - less than one week away! That way you’ll have plenty of time to plan your plantings out. Click the button below to learn more.
3) Ask an expert when you feel stuck.
If you’re still overwhelmed by planning when to plant, schedule a coaching session with me and we’ll create a full planting plan for this season, along with a planting schedule. I’m creating a lot of these this week, and I’d be happy to sit down with you and go over exactly what you want to grow in your space, where it will be grown and when you’ll be planting it. Having a road map will ensure you get started in the garden with confidence and be tailored to your garden. To book a garden planning session, click the button below.
I hope this blog series is helpful to those of you who feel a bit stuck when it comes to planning out your garden. A well-planned garden now means you get to stick to the fun stuff come spring weather. If you haven’t yet setup your garden, as well, I’m only taking two more New Garden Consults this month, so get on my schedule today. Otherwise, it’ll have to wait until mid-February, and you might miss a crop of spring veggies.