Grow One Thing
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A good “rule of thumb” is to pick one thing and try growing that.
I believe that everyone can grow something, and that gardens come in all shapes and sizes. I often hear people say that they wish they had a “green-thumb”, like it’s some super power you’re born with. I think that’s a myth. I think everyone has a “green-thumb” if they are willing to put a little time into getting to know what they want to grow. A good “rule of thumb” is to pick one thing and try growing that.
However, I am terrible at taking my own advice, just like I’m good at creating instructions and terrible at following them. I truly believe that if I chose just one item to focus on, then I could have a whole backyard of one great crop. But, I’m greedy and want to grow everything. So instead, I’m focusing on growing one crop (out of the many) well this year and focusing on creating an environment where it will thrive.
In my first garden, a three-by-three foot piece of dirt that I did my best to turn into a raised bed, I decided to grow corn, cilantro, and zucchini, and likely a few others I’m forgetting. My gardens have evolved in shape and size and currently is spread out on my windowsills, in our guest room, in the green house, and will soon occupy a square of dirt the chickens are fertilizing and tilling.
What I have learned through my garden journey is that it doesn’t matter what size or shape my growing space is, it’s taking time to pause, reflect, learn, and choose one thing to do really well. This year the one thing I’m focusing on doing well is growing borage (I want edible flowers) and creating an environment for my starts to thrive and establish themselves before they are put in the ground. Each year I have to start over with some (if not all) of my seeds and I become worried that the starts won’t have time to gain the strength they need for transplanting. This year has been no exception, but with having this intention I’m more focused on learning what I need and can do now instead of fretting about what is going to happen in two months.
Just as with gardening, I struggle in general to put my focus and intention on one thing. I have files saved on my computer and notebooks full of ideas that will likely remain as ideas. I like to start things and then find something else to start before I finish the first thing I started. Throughout my life I have collected loads of supplies for projects that sounded fun but that I was never going to follow through on. This quality I hold is part of my rose and also my thorn. Gardening has become both the rose and thorn that I can’t shake and is a project I can pour myself into because it may never have an ending. Even now, as I reflect in this moment, I am struck by the longevity and sustainability that I have found in gardening. I chose one thing, I created an intention to focus on it, and (pun intended) it continues to grow.
There are many parallels to life that could connect and mirror this idea to choose a focus, nurture that intention, and then watch it grow. What I have learned in both gardening and life is that it is a choice that comes with guaranteed work, pain, and joy. To develop a “green-thumb” in gardening or in life you must be willing to take the time to create the environment that will support the growth, that takes commitment to be vulnerable within the learning process and okay if it doesn’t work with the first try. I find myself having a lot more grace in this process with my seeds than I give to myself. Maybe someday I’ll learn to have that same grace with my own growing process.
So, if you are new to gardening or, like me, have tried to take it all on, this season pick one item that you want to focus on. This may be picking an herb to grow in a windowsill or tomatoes to grow on a patio or a variety of lettuces in your raised bed. Whatever you choose, take time to learn about that plant and what it needs, what makes it thrive, when to harvest, and how to care for it. I feel confident that if you take the time to put the focus and intention into that one item, it will grow. And, who knows, maybe YOU will grow too!