My garden went to the birds and here's why I don't care.
When I started my garden back in May, I started at full speed. I went to my local home improvement stores and found soil, compost, and containers for my garden. I read all the books and blogs and even subscribed to a few podcasts to learn all I could about starting and growing my garden. I planted and sewed and watered, sometimes even in my sleep. And I fought off bugs I'd never seen in my life (with a few of them even making it into the house). I loved every minute of it, and even had a pretty good crop of tomatoes, okra, cucumber and peppers. But as soon as fall hit, I fell flat.
There is such a thing as garden overwhelm. Gardening was my passion right after the craziness of the pandemic started but somewhere between then and now I put too much pressure on myself. I was requiring myself to do too much too quickly so by the time the fall hit, and I had harvested the majority of my crop, I completely slacked off. I planted seeds that I still haven't replanted. I pulled up some of my old plants, while others are decomposing where they sit. And I've been collecting old food containers and bottles to use that I still haven't used.
So I'm writing this to tell you something that I'm just now learning myself: don't mess up something that's meant to be fun by demanding too much out of it. I'm happy that I grew something, which, ultimately, was my only goal. But I'm okay with my garden being a hot mess right now. Because I'm redeveloping my passion and figuring out what my next goals are. God willing, there'll be a spring garden. And for the record, I do have broccoli growing and the last of the poblano peppers are still kicking. But I'm perfectly content with letting things go to compost if it means I still have peace.
Our denim gardening aprons are great in the garden AND the kitchen, and if you didn't know, the change in seasons has brought us inside more, creating new family traditions. Check out our newest venture, Zo's Baked Goods, where we sell locally baked goods with sustainably sourced materials. If you're in the Dallas area, shop for your Thanksgiving treats here.