Garden Goal Setting for the New Year – Ep. 281

We’ve reached the end of another gardening year. Maybe your garden was spectacular. Maybe it was just so-so. Maybe it was an absolute disaster in certain beds and you’re still a little salty about the squash vine borers.However it went, this is a powerful moment in the gardening calendar.Today we’re going to slow down and talk about taking time to reflect on the past season, reset your expectations, and reimagine what you want from your garden next year.Extension programs and planning guides consistently recommend end-of-season evaluation, note-taking, and mapping as key pieces of long-term garden success. Research on goal-setting shows that specific, challenging, and meaningful goals help people follow through and actually change their behavior. So, in this final episode of the year, we’re going to weave those two ideas together:1. Why the end of the year is the best time to reflect on your garden2. What goal-setting research can teach us about making better garden goals3. Turning reflection into 3–5 clear, realistic goals for next year4. A healthier mindset for handling “failures” and unexpected seasonsBy the end, you’ll have a framework to close the book on this year’s garden and open a new one with intention.Let’s dig in.References and Resources:Iowa State University Extension – Yard and Garden. “Garden Journaling.”: https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/garden-journalingLocke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. “Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation.” American Psychologist, 2002: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12237980/Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.comJust Grow Something Merch andDownloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shopJust Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomethingBonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomethingAmazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething