3 hours ago
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Every 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.
I’m also going to give up impulse‑buying more seeds than I can realistically grow. I likely won’t give this up for long – but right now, I have a seed box that is bulging and disorganised. So I’m going to be more reserved in my seed shopping until I’ve discerned which of the seeds I already own are viable and can be sown this season, and which are not and need replenishing. There will be special dispensation for exciting varieties or crops I haven’t grown yet, as long as I don’t buy too many or anything that needs a lot of space (see non-resolution No 1).
Next, I’m giving up planting with a strict plan. In contrast with the crop rotation that’s key to the organic growing I was trained in, I’ve found myself becoming more flexible with where I put my plants. While I’ll still try to avoid growing the same crop in the same bed back-to-back, I’m going to embrace the “pop a happy seedling where there happens to be a gap” approach that has seen my veg patch become a somewhat chaotic but nonetheless delicious place, filled with the biodiversity we all ought to be prioritising.
Last year I found the vegetable patch and garden to be a place of disappointment, likely because the expectations I’d subconsciously set weren’t realistic given how the year was unfolding. Perhaps with a more gentle and less meticulous approach, I’ll be able to enjoy whatever the coming season has to offer.
