Before You Buy a Secateurs
It took me three attempts to see the pattern. The soil is better every year, largely because I stopped digging it. Half of gardening is noticing what grows on its own.
Notes along the way
A watering can helps, but it is not the point. Half of the work is deciding what to leave out. The best advice I got was plainly to slow down.
Second thoughts
It is not glamorous, but it holds up. Little, repeatable steps beat big plans nearly every time. There is no single right way to approach weeding, but some ways are kinder than others. Some of this will be plain; some of it took me years. I would rather do one thing carefully than five things fast.
What changed
Somewhere between the allotment and home, the idea finally made sense. Saving seed means next year’s garden starts this autumn. None of this is new, and that is partly why it works. The difference showed up slowly, then all at once.
I sow a little too early every spring and never seem to learn.