10 Things My Garden Taught My Business + July Updates

I knew gardening can be great for my mental health but I had no idea how many learnings I could take from the process and apply them to my business. Here are 10 things my humble garden has taught me and how I approach my business. Perhaps some might resonate with you, too.

1. Patience. I added a cattle gate to my yard and planted some jasmine and goldflame honeysuckle on either side. The idea is the vines will cover the gate and create a lovely and fragrant covering for a new sitting area. Turns out, while the vines are growing, they’re not growing super fast. When I asked my mom how long it might take for the gate to get covered, she told me it might be a couple of years. Years? I thought maybe by the end of the summer. “Patience,” she told me. “Things that matter don’t happen overnight.”

2. Diversity. I planted a lot of potatoes this year, mostly because I kept digging them up as I was prepping my garden and I figured, why not? I kept placing them in different spots in my garden and it turns out that was a genius idea because the one spot where I intentionally planted them and grew the plants indoors first have basically been decimated by some insect or other creature. I have no idea what’s feasting on the plants. But at least I planted some in other places as well as a ton of other types of fruits and vegetables so I should have plenty to harvest in the coming weeks and months and not have to rely on one source or plant.

3. Unexpected surprises! What’s really surprised me is how well my compost is growing! And by that, I mean the seeds from the compost have blossomed into tomatoes, cucumbers and some sort of squash (not sure what it is yet since its flowers are just starting to appear). We’re very active composters so I use our compost to fertilize our soil every year. This year, though, we have something like a dozen plants from our compost and I’m trying to keep them all alive. Some have begun bearing fruit so I’m excited about these “bonus” plants!

4. Rich Soil. Which leads me to another reminder: what we add into our work matters. In a garden’s case, the soil is so important. I knew soil was important but I didn’t realize how complicated soil structure was until this year. We took for granted that our home’s soil somehow was rich enough to grow plants well but when I started adding more raised beds, we had to be more mindful of the soil we added. Like in business, what we consume and with whom we network and associate matters. So much more than we think it does.

5. Experimentation. Normally, we grow what we love to eat: tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are among the staples. We always try something new (peanuts one year, okra last year) and sometimes those carry over. Last year’s okra was an abysmal failure but I was determined to try again. This year, they’re going crazy well. Which goes to show, you have to keep trying and experimenting. Sometimes you’ll fail. Keep at it. You might find yourself succeeding!

6. Community. Garden friends are among the best friends one can have! They’re so knowledgeable and generous. I’ve stumbled into a new group of friends who love gardening and nature as much as I do and it’s been nothing but wonderful.

7. Appreciation. While we belong to a CSA (community supported agriculture) and support our local farmers market, there is a new-found appreciation for what farmers go through to bring high quality and nutritious food to our table. Growing your own and seeing how much work goes into the process is humbling, to say the least.

8. Constant learning. Like any business, there is always something to learn with gardening. It’s never-ending. I might have some fun news to share next month (stay tuned – I’ll know more in a few weeks!) but, for now, I’m just taking it all in, asking questions and learning what I can about gardening, soil, managing weeds, dealing with aphids, etc. (see? never-ending!)

9. Nature therapy. During this stressful time, my garden and walking more has been therapeutic. Seriously, I needed my garden more than it needed me. I realize I may not have done as much as I did this year had it not been for the sheltering-in-place that happened and while it’s a horrible reason, I’m so grateful for my little plot of land and having the time and funds to contribute to its growth. It’s helped me reflect on my business and what I want out of life.

10. Satisfaction. Finally, like any good project makes you feel either during the process or when it’s done, there is immense satisfaction when it comes to gardening. From the prep stage, to the planting stage, to the harvesting stage! Heck, even weeding comes with its own set of satisfaction. (Who knew you could have deep thoughts doing this completely mindless task? It’s amazing and I highly recommend it!)

Some personal news! Starting next month, I’ll be teaching journalism courses at Lake Forest College as well as continuing to teach graduate students online at Johns Hopkins University. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity. Also, I’m working with a new humanities-based client and can’t wait to tell you more as we get past this onboarding phase. There are a few more things in the works both personally and professionally but I prefer to keep things quiet until they’re confirmed but suffice to say if these things shake out, I’ll be excited to share more details with you this fall.

In the meantime, I’m staying busy taking as many mental health break walks throughout the day as I can and listening to my podcasts. If you have any good ones you’ve been tuning into, please share with me! Two I’m excited to start listening to again because they have new episodes coming up are The Dream or Last Seen.

I hope you’re doing well and staying safe. If I can do anything to help, please do reach out.

Tomatoes Hate Cucumbers, Carrots Love Tomatoes, And Why I'm Digging Deep This Spring

Happy May, my friends!

Until last month, I’ve never heard of a potato tower. Or that tomatoes hate being planted next to cucumbers. Or carrots like tomatoes as neighbors. But thanks to a bit more time on my hands due to the coronavirus pandemic, I’m trying to keep myself busy and soak up all I can from gardening friends, old and new.

In between writing some articles I was assigned PC (Pre-Coronavirus) and handling some client work, I was getting my hands dirty, planting some seeds from a new-to-me friend from a local neighborhood gardening group. Someone in the group asked if it was too late to start growing seeds indoors (something I’d never done) and she was told not at all. That made me think — hey, why not try something new this season? So I reached out to Christine, who apparently is the seed keeper for the group, and she kindly shared half a dozen different types of plant seeds with me. Later that week, into the soil they went and I’ve been babying them ever since. Within a week, the first seedling made its appearance and I kid you not, I cried. It was the first hopeful thing I’d experienced in a long time. My babies are growing.

I decided I was going to go all-in this season. Upon my brother’s recommendation, I purchased a warming pad for my seedings. My gardening group recommended a grow light to help so I invested in one of those, too. Now, every morning, I turn both of those on and talk to my babies. I’ve learned about needing to “harden” the seedlings so I can prepare them for transplanting them outdoors. I picked up Fran Sorin’s book, Digging Deep, and participated in my first Zoom chat with fellow gardeners.

This month is my 13th year in business. Thirteen years, my friends. I’m so grateful for my family, friends, clients, editors, fellow writers, and former colleagues, who have helped me get to this milestone. Thirteen years I’ve had the pleasure to learn and grow from each and every single person I’ve met. How much my business will grow this year financially is still up in the air, but as far as I’m concerned, I’ll keep growing and learning as long as I’m able to do so. Right now, I’ve just shifted my time and energy so I can spend more time learning about my garden and what it wants and needs. Later this month, I’ll be transplanting my babies into my raised beds and hope they are hardened enough to make it so they can continue to grow and produce fruits and vegetables.

I’m going to record my progress on my Instagram account if you have any interest to follow it. I’m doing it more for myself and to see how my garden grows throughout the summer.

Do you have any good books or articles for me to read or videos watch? I’ve also been listening to a few podcasts, including The Mike Nowak Show (with Peggy Malecki), Bloom and Grow Radio, and Plantrama.

By the way, here’s a great cheat sheet list of plants that grow well together as well as a list of their garden foes, thanks to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Or, pick up Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening.