Hello my friends,

I enjoy meeting here with you here and sharing the homestead garden goals, wins, highlights, and victories that we get to experience on our 2.5 acre, from-scratch farm. In our 15 years, we’ve had some good ones! 

But let’s get real for sec.

As I was pulling out slimy, dead vegetables from the market garden rows this past Saturday, I actually had the thought:

WHO THE HECK EVEN WANTS A GARDEN. 

THIS IS SO MUCH WORK.

My back hurt. Dirt was everywhere. The morning glory was not nearly as affected by the deep winter frosts as the okra and it seemed to cover every single bed, its spaghetti-like roots crawling and sprawling everywhere. I felt the deep desire to torch the entire thing and start over, or never to garden again. 

Every pathway in the garden needs to be redressed with mulch of some sort and that d#^! poison ivy patch is still thriving, despite my best efforts. (What’s next? A tarp?)

I guess you could say I got good and properly overwhelmed. 

It happens often in the gardens. How can it not? As my dear friend Angela often reminds me “We’re trying to have the type of life that people usually have staff to help them with.” – and it’s true. It’s an impossible task for it all to be done the way I’d like by me alone. Yet here we are. 

Instead, I find myself needing to die to perfectionism and to keep climbing regardless of the overwhelm that can easily cloak the gardener at any given moment. 

And so, we march forth and set goals. Here are mine for this year. What are yours? 

Cheers,

Shaye

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