Starting over with pruning
· 2 min read
The soil is better every year, mostly because I stopped digging it. Half of gardening is noticing what grows on its own. Compost is slow magic, and it cannot be rushed. A cold frame extends the season by weeks at either end.
The process
A friend once described cover crops as quiet work, and the phrase stuck. None of this is new, and that is partly why it works. Saving seed means next year’s garden starts this autumn. The shift showed up slowly, then all at once. A rain barrel helps, but it is not the point.
- Start with herbs and nothing else
- Write down what you change
- Start with perennials and nothing else
- Stop before you are tired
- Budget twice the time you expect
Odds and ends
The slugs got most of the lettuce, but the beans did well. I am still not sure I have it right, but it is closer. It is easy to overthink saving seed. It is harder to just start.
Getting started
Somewhere between the back garden and home, the idea finally made sense. If you only take one thing from this, make it the part about pruning. I sow a little too early every spring and never seem to learn. In February the light changes, and so does the work.
A few details
Some of this will be obvious; some of it took me years. A friend once described herbs as quiet work, and the phrase stuck. The result is not perfect, but it is honest.
There is no single right way to approach sowing seeds, but some ways are kinder than others.
mulchpruning