It’s no secret that I love to garden. And, as hard as I try to determine what aspect of gardening I love the most…I just can’t figure it out (believe it or not, I even enjoy weeding…I know). But! One thing that continues to amaze me is how the tiny seeds I plant, grow, and transform into the most remarkable plants, and bear enough food for me to enjoy AND plenty extra to share with others.
But let me tell you, it doesn’t come together without a lot of prepping, planning and doing!
Can anyone relate?
Knowing full well that success isn’t guaranteed, that there are a lot of things so far out of my control that I can’t possibly know if this year’s efforts will result in an any sort of harvest…
Here’s a list of all the things I do each year as far as my garden is concerned…
- Pour over seed catalogues – which usually starts as early as late summer the year before!
- Select and purchase seeds – always extras that never get planted LOL
- Plant seeds and grow seedlings – March
- Transplant seedlings – sometimes several times
- Wait for the snow to melt
- Wait even longer for the snow to melt LOL
- Prep the garden soil – Mid-May
- Wait for the soil to warm up
- Lay out rows and plan the planting
- Planting days – June
- Direct sow many of the seeds that have longer germination and growing times
- Plant seedlings
- Watch forecast closely for last frost date
- Cover young, vulnerable plants if necessary
- Stagger planting begins (every week or two) – beans, peas, lettuce
- Check garden daily! #obsessively for signs of growth
- Water if necessary
- Weed
- Wait for new growth
- Watch for plants that didn’t progress – assist them if able
- Stake indeterminant plants
- Ooo and ahh over first blooms and small fruit – tell everyone!
- Weed
- Water
- Wait
- Watch for predators
- Protect
- Watch for pests
- Protect
- Begin the harvest
- Tell everyone LOL
- Share, share, share
- Preserve
- Eat, eat, eat
- And as I eat, share, and preserve…start dreaming and planning for the next season
When I look back over this list, I realize it really does take a lot of work to grow food for even the chance of a successful harvest, each step and stage as important as the one before and the next to come.
I have been so fortunate in that I have had very good response to the treatments I use for my RA and have very few limitations as far as my joint disease. But I can assure you, it didn’t happen overnight, or happen without a lot of prepping, planning and participation. And my continued success, or at least my hope of continued success won’t happen on its own either…it will take ongoing preparation, planning and participation.
How about you?
What has your experience been with your treatment(s), even if you don’t have RA but have any number of ailments that require attentiveness and monitoring?
What goes into your success? I’m sure it wasn’t just a one-step process either. I’m guessing there was a lot of waiting…wanting…hoping…longing before even the first step occurred.
And when you experienced success, when it worked, or there was positive change, what then? Did you share your excitement with others? Did you allow yourself to enjoy it?
Did you stop and think about all the planning, the work, the commitment it took to make it happen? Did you take time to acknowledge how hard it was to keep going? To go through all the steps over and over, never quite sure you would have the outcome you hoped for.
Did you consider all the things that were out of your control, things that contributed to your success, or didn’t, that were impossible for you to determine ahead of time?
If it didn’t work. How did you reflect on it? Did you learn something for the next time? Did the conversation about options and ideas make you feel hopeful or keep you searching?
If I can encourage you at all…take time to notice all the small changes that are happening. There’s so much to learn, so much to notice and so much to celebrate as you move through all the hard work of working toward a goal.
And if you are struggling right now to see any positive change, any responses that will progress you toward the outcome you are hoping for, still take the time to make note of the things that are happening and use them to help determine the next steps.
Carrie
person with rheumatoid arthritis