Maybe you reached the garden goals you set for yourself this year. Maybe some things didn’t go according to plan.
Either way, you know more about your garden now than you did when the season began.
As one growing season winds down, this can be a useful time to look back at what worked, what didn’t, and what you’d like to carry forward into the year ahead.
Because a garden that didn’t go according to plan isn’t necessarily a garden that failed. Sometimes it simply means you learned something along the way.
How Should You Measure Success in Your Vegetable Garden?
It can be easy to measure a growing season by whether or not you reached the goals you set for yourself.
But garden goals can be tricky. Sometimes we choose a goal that’s so big that not reaching it feels like failure. Other times, we choose something so easily achieved that we realize we could have stretched a little farther.
One approach we teach at Grow Your Own Vegetables is to let smaller goals build toward something bigger. Those smaller accomplishments can help keep you moving forward throughout the year.
That gives us a different way to look back at this year’s garden.
Instead of asking only, “Did I reach my garden goal?”, consider:
• What worked that I’d like to repeat?
• What didn’t work, and what did I learn from it?
• What would I like to work toward next?
Looking back at what worked and what didn’t gives you lessons you can carry with you as you begin thinking about another growing season.
What Can You Learn From a Garden That Didn’t Go as Planned?
Quite a lot.
Gardens don’t always go according to plan. If you don’t achieve a goal, that doesn’t mean your garden failed. It means you’re learning new things.
One gardener in our community shared a very real example of this. She had ordered fruit trees with plans to create a food forest, but unexpected circumstances changed what she could do. So while she waited, she shifted her attention to planning the garden and learning more about fruit trees.
Her original garden plans hadn’t disappeared. What she could do in that season had simply changed.
That’s something gardeners encounter in many different ways. Sometimes we reach the small goal we set. Sometimes something goes wrong and we learn a lesson from it.
Both are worth recognizing.
When something doesn’t work, the lesson you take from it can still help move your garden forward. You can achieve a goal or learn something—and both have value.
This is also a good place for a little kindness toward yourself. Many things in a garden may not go according to plan. A goal is there to help pull you forward, not to determine whether your garden was a success or failure.
How Do You Decide What to Grow or Change Next Year?
You don’t have to figure out your entire next garden season at once.
You can begin with what you learned this year and what you’d like to work toward next.
Here’s an example we often use in our teaching: imagine the larger goal is having fresh greens available for your meals throughout the year. For an experienced gardener, that goal may be relatively straightforward. For someone just beginning, there may be several smaller goals along the way.
You might first need to decide what type of garden you’re going to build. If cold winter temperatures make outdoor growing difficult, you might explore indoor gardening or a strategy for growing in colder weather through season extension.
Each of those smaller goals can become a step toward the larger goal of having fresh greens available throughout the year.
The larger goal doesn’t have to happen all at once.
And sometimes the next step isn’t doing more. It’s finding the answer to the question that’s keeping you from moving forward.
That’s something we hear from members of Harvest Club, our ongoing garden support membership, too. When asked what they’re looking for when they come into the membership, gardeners mentioned step-by-step guidance, a quick answer to a garden problem, reassurance they’re doing things right, and inspiration or motivation.
Those are different needs—and they can show up at different points in a gardener’s season.
How Can You Use This Year’s Garden to Plan for Next Year?
Before you begin making plans for another growing season, spend a little time looking back at the one you’ve just experienced.
Notice what worked. Notice what didn’t. And think about what those experiences might teach you as you begin looking ahead. That’s the reflection encouraged in the original GYOV training this article grew from.
You could begin with two simple questions:
What did I learn from my garden this year?
What would I like to work toward next?
You don’t have to know every step yet.
Ready to take the next step? Learn how to turn a larger garden goal into small, manageable actions you can take week by week in How Small Weekly Garden Goals Can Help You Keep Moving Forward.
For now, notice what worked, what didn’t, and what you learned along the way. Those lessons can help you decide what comes next.
You Don’t Have to Figure Out Every Garden Season Alone
Every growing season brings something new to notice, learn, and build on. And sometimes having a little support along the way makes it easier to know what your next step could be.
That’s what Harvest Club is here for. You’ll find garden resources, Plant Growing Guides, specialty trainings, Garden Jam sessions where you can bring your questions, and a community of gardeners learning right alongside you.
“You have been such a huge help to me in so many ways over the last years. Thank you!” ~ Barbara, Harvest Club Member
Whether this season went beautifully or gave you plenty to learn from, Harvest Club gives you a place to keep learning and growing from here.
