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Y’all know I’ve been gardening for the first time ever. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, but I’m having fun! As I learn, I see so many parallels decluttering. I’m sharing these decluttering thoughts today.
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--Nony
The last point you made was profound. It moved me to tears to think of the clutter (in the name of being prepared) hindering my right now life. There is value in preparedness, but at what cost? Which is more important, enjoying what I have now (spending time with family instead of managing clutter) or potential savings of $ by buying ahead? Thank you, Dana.
In he KiwiCo ad, should it be “STEM topics” instead of “steam topics”?
It is STEAM, and I think it’s because some add in Arts? As the A?
Interesting — I’ve never heard anybody do that! Thanks for replying. 🙂
The connections you drew to garden wisdom in this episode were brilliant (I actually listened while puttering around in the garden!). I also wanted to share a fun squash fact that might help you decide whether to let go of the rest of those volunteer squash plants. (In the garden/farming world, a “volunteer” is a vegetable plant that pops up in an unexpected location — usually from a stray fruit dropped by last year’s crop, or a seed we planted last year that didn’t come up the same season.)
Many squash varieties tend to cross-pollinate easily with other nearby squash plants blooming at the same time, as squash-loving bees carry pollen throughout the neighborhood. A pumpkin might cross with a loofah gourd, or a zucchini with an acorn squash. The fruit you get that initial season (or last year’s squash in your case) will be exactly what you planted, but the seeds from that fruit, if planted, will produce a mystery mashup of the two parent plants. If last year’s gardener planted a massive patch of one variety of squash, and none of the neighbors planted other squashes or pumpkins, they might breed true and be tasty. Or occasionally, you’ll get some strange and delightful decorative gourds. But most often, we end up with something weird that doesn’t taste good. Maybe it looks like a cantaloupe, but is dry and bitter instead of juicy and sweet. A fun experiment if you have extra space, but disappointing if you reduced your okra or pepper crop in order to spend resources on mystery squash.
I’m still looking for the parallel to clutter. Free stuff isn’t always what was promised? Objects don’t always hold the value we thought they did? If we hold on to something too long “just in case,” we might find that it doesn’t work anymore anyway?
Love the parallels you find with gardening and decluttering.
The word your looking for is thinking g plants..
Okra is very hardy and should be a great starter plant for you. For any extra squash you can transplant if it hurts to get rid of. A super yummy squash to try is butternut squash. Delicious roasted and easy to grow.
From an Iowa gardener..
Most squash are hybrids. This means that the next generation will not be true to the plant that you planted the year before. What you think you are growing that came up wild from last year’s dead gourds most likely not the same.
There is no problem with the experiment (and squash leaves keep the weeds down!) Just don’t be surprised when you get some inedible something from those gorgeous plants.