Find a Daily Rhythm
Tip No. 1 for Developing a Green Thumb
I don’t believe anyone is born with a “green thumb.” But there are some things people perceived as having one do that other people do not.
I’ve been discovering those things, slowly, over time as I become more and more of a gardener. I’m going to start a series here on Substack to share some of them. This is Number 1!
Green Thumb Tip No. 1: Find a Daily Rhythm
Ten minutes a day is better than an hour once a week.
Make it therapeutic.
Make it joyful.
Breathe deep.
See the beauty.
Many people don’t start gardening for fear that the garden will need them every day. What I was most surprised to learn was that I need my garden every day.
(Though let me be clear: You don’t literally have to be in the garden EVERY single day. Your plants will be fine. I wrote a post last summer about how I prepared to be away from my garden for a two-week vacation at the height of summer. It can be done. My point here is that it’s essential to find where gardening fits into your day-to-day and build a habit.)
Get comfortable throwing on an apron or smock, with some gardening gloves and hand pruners stashed in the pockets, and just wandering around while the kids play.
Or deadhead some flowers while you drink your coffee.
Pull some weeds on your lunch break when your eyes can’t take another Zoom meeting. (That’s what I do!)
Try habit stacking.
Ten minutes a day is better than an hour once a week.
Trust me, it’s not going to feel like work. It’s going to be your favorite part of the day.
The reason I’ve named this my No. 1 Top Tip is because I’ve discovered over time that most of what people consider “a green thumb” is just attentiveness.
You’ll water a plant that needs it if you SEE the plant is thirsty before it’s brown and crispy.
You’ll harvest the kale before it bolts under the impending hot weather if you SEE that it’s flush with ready-to-harvest leaves on your cool morning stroll.
You’ll add another rung of twine for the peas to climb before they fall over if you SEE that they are reaching for the sky.
The next layer here, as I alluded to above, is to make it easy to tend by having your tools with you.
I do this by keeping my pruners, twine, and gloves in my Roo Harvest Apron on hook by the door. The first step in my daily rhythm is to put on the apron, and then walk through the garden. When it’s cold, I switch to a big oversized gardener’s smock.
If there are seeds I’m planting for the next few weeks, I add them to the apron pocket. If there are delicata squash on the vine I need to be protecting from caterpillars, I add mesh bags to the apron pocket. I keep what I need right there by the door, and it makes it easy to harvest and tend without a lot of extra effort.
So these are the questions to ask yourself:
Where does checking up on your plants naturally fit into your day?
What tools do you need to have handy so that it’s convenient to tackle what you notice needs attention on the fly?
Find that rhythm, and you’re well on your way to developing a green thumb.
I share more on habits like this to develop as you’re becoming a gardener in my zine “The Uncomplicated Gardener” available from Good Printed Things!