Life Lessons in Starting a Garden

A couple weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to try gardening for the first time.  The idea of growing my own veggies at home sounded great!  I also thought, how hard could it be….little did I know, the ground where I would be digging was made of clay.  LIfe lesson #1, hope for the best, plan for the worst and expected the unexpected.  There will always be an unexpected surprise!  


We first dug into the grass, removed some topsoil and then we hit clay.  We knew that veggies would not be able to grow their roots through clay so we would have to dig even deeper than anticipated to allow for more room. We stopped about ¾ of the way through for the day.  The next day, it rained and rained and rained….where our garden would be, turned into a clay swimming pool!  


When we got back to our garden, we had to dig out heavy, wet clay and soil!  After that, we filled our garden with new soil and started to plant our veggies.


Lessons learned:

• It is nice to have help.  I was not alone in the process and having a partner to share the journey makes it more enjoyable.
  
  
• Pair something you don’t particularly enjoy with something that you do.  When I was digging and jumping on the shovel, I was also listening to a podcast and getting inspired
  
  
• The hard work payed off!  The garden turned out beautifully and we got the veggies growing in it
  
  
• Listen to your body- it is possible to go overboard physically.  Make sure to drink lots of water and take breaks when performing physical activity in the sun.
  
  
• When you commit and focus on a goal, it can be achieved and even in a short time period.