Review of the garden year 2022

After the season is before the season

After the season is before the season. This also applies to the gardening year. In the community, we often read about the garden as a project. If this is the case, you should also apply the principles of project work to your work in the garden. You should define the goals that you associate with gardening and want to achieve. The goals are certainly different, for me they are:
Goal 1: A sense of achievement / joy
Goal 2: Fresh food of first-class quality
Goal 3: Covering my own kitchen needs for the year as far as possible

To achieve my goals, I need resources and processes, such as:

• Space
• Time
• Money

As many of the resources mentioned as possible do not guarantee the achievement of the goals and, on the other hand, the resources are somehow also limited. Nevertheless, the efficient use of resources and processes plays a role in achieving goals. Space is very limited for many people. Be it space in the bed, on the balcony or for pre-growing on a windowsill or seed cabinet. What's more, cultivating the space takes time and costs money. So for each species I grow, I should ask myself to what extent what I did in 2022 was necessary to achieve or increase my goal. Here's an example that tomato lovers won't hold against me (our family doesn't need many tomatoes): If my goal is to have as many tomato varieties as possible with a massive harvest in kilograms, it certainly makes sense to fill every corner with tomato seedlings (windowsill, greenhouse and bed). If this is not part of my goals or does not give me massive pleasure, I should consider how many tomatoes I need and which varieties suit my goals and resources (open field, greenhouse, weight, taste, processing) and then select the seeds for next year. This consideration should be made for each species and variety grown and also for the most important processes. The purpose should not be to change everything, but to achieve the goals we have set and to limit the consumption of resources. Simply ask the question with an open mind: Is everything I've done this year necessary? In my case, this primarily means increasing enjoyment and using fewer resources, especially time. Where I see that my goals are not achievable with the given resources, the goals or processes should be adjusted.

Finally, the results of my inventory:

• Measures against weed damage are to be improved (objective 1)
• As much as possible, especially seeds with a long germination period, are preplanted and then planted out to reduce weeding, (Objective 1 in conjunction with time)
• Wait for the right sowing time (soil temperature) to keep the germination period as short as possible (faster germination = fewer weeds = Objectives 1 and 2)
• I reduce the number of runner beans (overproduction in normal years / Objective 3)
• I no longer plant yellow runner beans (in 3 years, the quality with 2 varieties has not convinced me / Objective 2) Yellow zucchinis have not convinced me (goal 2) - I am getting rid of my current strawberry field (and buying frozen plants for the duration of the harvest / goal 1 in connection with time) This result is of course only valid for my garden year 2022 and will look different for everyone. Maybe everything was exactly as you wanted it to be, maybe so. Nevertheless, you should now review the year, plan changes where they make sense and remember and enjoy what went well (goal 1). your Schöpp op