As word of my retirement got out, I started receiving invitations to do cool things on weekdays.
One of those invitations was from my friend Heather to hang out in her garden. Oh. Maybe that was “work” but I just love her vibe and I’m happy to help anyone in the garden.
I tried to remember how we met. It was probably Food Not Lawns or The Carolinian Food Forest. It was definitely around growing plants!
In addition to gardening, we share a love of crafting, especially sewing.
I was so glad I got to see Heather this week. She procured scones and we enjoyed tea as we shared our hopes for our gardens.
Heather has beautiful gardens on all sides of her house. Some plants are for pollinators, some are for eating and still others are for pure joy.
Heather shared her motto for her garden this year: little and often. I love it and have decided I too will do a little amount of things often.
On Tuesday I was getting more work done on my tattoo. Kaley shared she had been doing some chopping of roots with her wife.
“I don’t know why gardening is framed as a gentle activity. I’m always moving wheelbarrows of stuff, lifting, digging, it’s hard work!”
Kayley is very wise. I often get caught up in puttering in the garden and forget how hard I’m working. A bit of weeding and light pruning can drift to chopping down a tree and hacking away at roots. Two days later wondering why my hamstrings are sore.
“Little and often” works not only my gardening efforts but also my crafting and writing. My goal is sustainable efforts that avoid burnout or injury.
Two hours in the garden caused me some lower back pain and some tender muscles. It’s humbling that what used to be a reasonable effort is now a bit too much, at least early in the season.
So I’m changing my expectations. I’m going for 30 minutes at a time for gardening, an hour at writing, crafting and housekeeping. Small, continuous progress always yields satisfying results.
I am so glad Heather shared her motto with me.
