#30 Big Picture Garden Planning

This is the last episode for 2022.. I feel like this year I have achieved so much but haven’t even scratch the sides at the same time… anyone else feel the same?

This week I am working on my goals for 2023. We have some big plans for SoH Farmlet including starting a fortnightly food swap where it’s a bring what you can take what you need no money food swap.

A produce swap where people can come and have a cuppa, cake, conversation and go home with a stash of fresh goodies.

Self sufficiency for me isn’t about being a solo crusader, it’s about doing what you can with what you have. This means learning from others be it books, YouTube, courses, podcasts or just having a chat to someone, it’s observing, testing and measuring, failing forward over and over and over until you work it out, and it’s sharing what you have and what you know with others.

I have to admit that I’m not usually one to get overly involved in community groups as I don’t have the mental bandwidth to deal with the drama that can sometimes come with them. But, one of my goals in 2023 is to connect with more likeminded people to learn from them, add value where I can and have more fun.

I have in the last few weeks joined my local community garden and am looking forward to getting involved and meeting other garden nerds. I am actually really excited which I’ve surprised myself with.
For the last ep. of the year I thought I would share with you my process for big picture planning my garden.

I used to try and plan from big picture all way way down to the small details of each garden bed, each fruit tree which ended up with me either getting stressed that I can’t follow it because it’s too rigid or throwing it out all together and going way off track.

I now use a set of basic principles to work out what I can achieve. This allows me the flexibility I need to change for unplanned events like crazy weather or if I need to be away from the garden for a while or purely if change my mind, which will absolutely happen.

It gives me a framework to work within.

I have found so far this has been pretty effective in preventing me going off on garden tangents like buying a heap of plants on a whim and not having a plan for them. I have killed so many plants that have languished in pots for way too long waiting for me to plant them out. And I admit, I still have some.. I did say it’s pretty effective, not fool proof.

The principles I use are broken into 2 Tiers

Tier 1
How much time do I REALLY have to dedicate to my garden.
What resources do I have or need. Ie Help, cash, seeds/plants, items I can reuse/upcycle, swap
Growing vs infrastructure - what can I get growing and what needs more work

Tier 2
What do I like and want to eat
What do I know grows well
What will improve my soil


By applying these I can break down each section of the garden into what need attention and then plan for when I can give it the attention it needs.

For example I am still working on building fenced garden beds that stop rabbits from pillaging and also allow the chickens to be directed over beds at the end of the season.
I have several of these yet to build but there is no way I can do them all in one go. I don’t have the time, budget or endurance. But I know I can build 1 in 1 day.

I Also know that I need make compost for each bed and I know I can build a hot compost in one day that will be ready in about 3-4 weeks.

These garden beds are all no dig so I need to laying paper or cardboard down, cover it in soil and compost and add mulch on the walk ways. I know that doing this part is achievable over a weekend.
If I give myself 4-6 weeks to build a single bed ready to plant, I can have them all finished by the end of the year and if I factor that my amazing husband will most definitely help me with these then we can have them finished sooner.

But this isn’t our only garden project. I still have maintenance of the orchard, food forrest and planting annuals in prepared beds. I break these down using the same principles.

For example one of our annual beds needs some soil love. I can add a green manure crop now and then let the chickens trample it down over autumn and winter ready for spring. Minimal effort and time on my part, massive boost for the soil plus extra forage for the chickens.

In another bed I recently planted eggplant seedlings and added generous amount of lettuce, rocket, corn salad and a mix of flower seeds. The leafy greens are planted thick to act as a living mulch and the eggplants will shade some out so I can pick leaves. Flowers will attract beneficial bugs, look pretty and I can pick a few here and there for my vase.

The orchard needs the grass to be maintained. I can knock this down over the a few afternoons each month. I can then continue planting fruit tree guilds to help manage the grass overgrowing into the fruit trees, increase diversity, boost soil health, create habitat and about 1000 other benefits. I can get one done a month. With the amount of fruit trees we have this will take me the next 2 years to finish but I am a-ok with this. Progress is a good thing.

I can commit to planting at least 1 perennial a month in the food forrest and start to grow more living mulch to assist with grass suppression.

And with my time focused on infrastructure projects I have decided that I am probably not going to grow my own seedlings and will either plant seeds direct or source seedlings elsewhere.
From all of this I know that each month I need at least 2 weekends and a few afternoons to achieve my goals and now I can plan this into my diary.

Once I know what the big picture looks like I can then drill down further like pruning and crop rotation planning if I need to. Mind you, the more I learn about the life of soil the less I worry about crop rotation but that is for another day.

I know this type of planning has helped me to stay connected to my garden and continue to enjoy all the tasks that need doing. When things get overwhelming we naturally want to avoid them and I know I have been in overwhelm on a few of occasions, especally over the last few years. But it’s using smart strategies that work for each of us that is key.

If you have some gardening goals that you aren’t sure how to tackle take some time before the year is finished to apply these principles to work out what you can, do with what you have.

I want to say a big fat thank you for listing to the podcast and your support. I massively appreciate your patience with the adds this season too. This year decided to monitize the podcast to help pay for the costs of production. I find ads in podcasts annoying but I also know that’s how many of us keep the pod lights on. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Have a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. I’ll be taking a short break and plan to be back in February 2023.

Happy gardening.