The Beginner's Mind for the Lifelong Gardener

The paradox of gardening is that it is very simple to understand, but takes a lifetime to master. For me, the best way to grow in that regard, is to never stop thinking like a beginner.

The first garden I ever had¹, was in the backyard of a house where I lived in my 20s. I was renting the basement flat of a bungalow in Hamilton, Ontario, and as part of that deal, I was allowed to have a small garden in the backyard, along the south side of the house. It was very small (about 2’x10’), and all I grew in it was tomatoes, but man did those tomatoes grow! By the end of summer they would be eight feet high, and the tomatoes were delicious. All I did to plant them was buy transplants at the local grocery store, stick them in the ground, and water them a couple times every week.

In martial arts, the beginner’s mind or “shoshin” is recommended for practitioners at all levels. I think this is good advice for gardeners too! [source]

My next garden was in the backyard of my first home in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. I started with three 4’x8’ beds, then the next year I had six beds, then more each year until I had used as much as the space as my wife would allow. Everything in that garden grew great, and as with my first garden, all I really did was put things in the ground and add water.

Both of the above gardens had two things in common: great soil and ideal growing conditions. Hamilton, Ontario - aside from being known as “steel town” or “ the big smoke” due to its industrial economy - is also home to fantastic growing conditions, with good soil and a hot, sunny summer. Wolfville, Nova Scotia also has fantastic soil, and very unique growing conditions that make it ideal for agriculture.

After living in Wolfville for eight years, we sold that house and moved to my current location just outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The first year I put in six beds, did everything the way I’d been doing all along, and had a very average, if not sub-par garden. The next year, I had similar results. I could not understand what was happening. Why was everything so unimpressive? I had been growing an awesome garden every year for years! I was a good gardener! What on earth was going on?