No over-buying or rigid planning. Here is my list of things I won’t be doing in the garden this year
E
very January, I gripe about the tyranny of setting any kind of resolution while we’re in the depth of winter. Short gloomy days and long drawn-out nights are a truly uninspiring backdrop for resolving to make meaningful changes in your life. I’d love to meet whoever came up with the idea of new year resolutions and give them a piece of my mind.
So I want to try something else this January. I want to make a list of things I’m giving up. Not the punishing kind of giving up. I’m not planning to give up any of the delicious things that I’ve happily overeaten these last few weeks. Instead, I’m going to give up doing the things that make me – and more specifically, my veg patch – feel less than good enough.
First I’m giving up growing winter squash. Now I love this vegetable. I like to cook and eat them, and I’ve enjoyed growing them in the market gardens and farms I’ve worked on over the years. But in my tiny patch, they never seem to thrive. It’s entirely my fault, of course, as I’m trying to grow them cheek-to-cheek with too many other plants. They need space to thrive, and I can’t give it to them, so I’m going to get ahead of this season’s frustration and give up on this lovely but elusive crop for now.
