Are Your Goals Like a Well-Planned Garden?

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” (Prov. 16:3 NIV)

Do you dream of a lush, beautiful and, most of all, productive vegetable garden? Your family picking fresh ingredients for a salad to go with dinner? Advertisements often use images, like that of a woman strolling through her garden, the breeze teasing back her hair as she snips fresh herbs into a woven basket, to show you how fresh their ingredients are purported to be. These lovely fantasies can come crashing down when you plant your own garden, though.

I have gardened my whole life, learning as a small child what to do and not do from my grandmother, great aunt, and mother. When my husband and I got married, I raised vegetables as a business under a CSA model for our farm. At this point, our garden serves to feed our family, with plenty to share with friends.

The most frequently asked question I hear from people who want to start gardening is, “How often should I water?” This always causes me to groan inwardly because I know people think that watering is the most important thing. It isn’t. It simply may be the most visible thing—the thing you’ve seen your neighbors doing often.

Let me tell you a gardening secret, a goals secret: that thing you see someone else doing is what happens usually midway through the process, and a lot of preparation has gone into that “watering” moment.

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Prov. 19:21 NIV)

Many of us have given up on our New Year’s Resolutions at this point, if we even bothered to set any. We gave up, not because we didn’t want to accomplish those goals, but because we didn’t realistically prepare for them. It is human nature to start in the middle, with the part people see, the part we have seen others do.

But with goals, as well as in the garden, preparation is key.

I start gardening in January. Living in North Dakota means I cannot see my garden because of the feet of snow that cover it, but I start planning in January. First, I gather information: what I planted last year, how it grew, disasters I want to avoid, what varieties did well and what I should replace with other varieties, how much of each vegetable we ate, preserved, and shared.

“Plans are established by seeking advice.” (Prov. 20:18 NIV)

In goal setting, gathering accurate information is important. And placing that information alongside your current skills and abilities is critical.

Starting in December, my mailbox is flooded with seed catalogs. Beautiful, glossy photos of luscious, perfectly ripe fruits and vegetables tempt me. But I’ve learned not to be tempted by the photos until after I have made my plan. If I start by dreaming over photos, I will not have a productive and useful garden. I will have a mess of plants that looked amazing on paper, but may not be the best for our garden.

My first step is to make a list of vegetables. I use three categories: what we love, what we like, what we hate. It is a complete waste of time, effort, and space for me to plant eggplant. No one in our family eats it. But an eggplant blossom is one of the most beautiful, and the deep purple or white vegetable looks fabulous on the catalog page.

“Plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” (Prov. 21:5 NIV)

In the same way, using someone else’s workout schedule, reading goals, or twenty-things-to-do-in-2020 list can be a waste of our own time, effort, and space. Sitting down and spending the time thinking and praying about what you actually do and really want to do is the most important part of accomplishing goals. Rather than jumping on someone’s marathon goal, a more realistic goal for right now may be to walk your neighborhood, or gravel road, three times a week.

The next steps involve more planning. In the garden, I have to look at the space available and at how I am going to use the produce. Will I be freezing or canning or sharing what I grow, or is my garden just for fresh eating? I can tell you from experience that green beans are prolific, and it’s best to have a plan for the excess. Pumpkins need a lot of space or they will completely cover your garden.

Planning your goals requires a close look at the space in your schedule. One of your goals may require more time, money, or mental capacity and overrun the others.

Of course, we cannot plan for everything. This past year, my daughter’s ducks ate my broccoli and cauliflower plants down to the ground. We had none to blanch and freeze, much less enjoy fresh. An injury may derail your fitness goal; a broken transmission may postpone your vacation goal; a global pandemic may keep you at home for an amount of time you can’t foresee. How do we respond to those setbacks? I recommend adjusting the goal to fit the new information. I planted sweet potatoes and flowers in the vacant spots in my garden.

The ultimate goal is to keep moving forward in faith, even if it is slowly. It may take longer than we plan, but we will never harvest what we do not plant.

Whether you are planting tomatoes or quiet time, beets or books, I wish you a happy harvest.

Annie Carlson is rooted like a turnip to the plains of North Dakota where she raises great food, large numbers of farm animals, and three free-range kids with her husband. You can find her with either a book or knitting needles in her hands as she dreams up her next adventure.