What Is a "Productive Garden" Anyway?
Maybe it's less about volume and more about cadence.
What if we redefined a “productive garden” from one that could fill a pantry and deep freezer to one that we eat from every day?
Less about volume and more about the frequency with which we eat from it? The cadence?
That salad we make for lunch.
Those quick pickles we relish.
Those berries in yogurt.
Those figs on toast.
The difference between the once per month CostCo run and a daily walk to a shop for just what is needed.
I love it when the garden overflows with good things, but I also love it when I fully appreciate and savor whatever it happens to be giving me at the moment without wishing it was more.
Ultimately, productive is to you what you decide it is. For me, my garden feels most productive when I have a reason to go pick something and eat it daily.
And if I’m eating fresh picked produce everyday in small amounts, how productively will that show up in my health long term?
I’m here to find out.
Yes! That’s been my focus this year. My garden hasn’t been the most beautiful, it hasn’t been as full of flowers as I would like. It’s been swarmed with Japanese beetles and squash bugs. But still we have enjoyed many meals with either fried or roasted squash, roasted green beans, cold crisp cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers and blueberries. Not a lot to put away for later but I’m looking forward to picking daily from a fall garden.