What's In My Cart: Garden Daydreaming & Planning The Hygge Ranch Jardin
“Happy National Garden Month”
Ya'll... this is the year I officially start gardening and I am super geeked about it. You guys have seen me talk about gardening before - both here on the blog and on Instagram - however this year work on #thehyggeranchjardin will officially begin... like with a plan. What do I mean? Up until this point the garden was (a) whatever we inherited when we bought the house or (b) a few seeds we tried out when we put out our new garden beds. There was no layout, there was seed planning... none of that. For the past 2 years now, while I have wanted to actively start gardening, other things always took precedence; however, not that we're nearing the completion of the deck reno, I feel comfortable moving forward with truly beginning #thehyggeranchjardin.
My Motivation For Gardening
I never grew up around gardening - my mom actually doesn't know anything about gardening & tells me all the time that my uncle (her brother) and grandma were avid gardeners in Haiti. Here in the states, however, it's not something I grew up around. It wasn't until now, as an adult, that I begin to meet people that actually garden... not just have houseplants or a few kitchen herbs. Meeting people like Shavonda Gardner, Joanna Hawley-McBride, Ashley of Heirloom Potager, Yami of With Love Yami, Ellie Lillstrom, and Stacie of Stacie's Spaces - just to name a few - was my first time thinking about home gardening for myself. Then we bought this house, and in addition to the previous owners being avid gardeners, we also got a bunch of gardening neighbors. I immediately fell in love with the idea of being able to grow some of our own fruits, veggies, and herbs... so not going full on homestead, however, really wanting to create our own little farm to table experience. When I first began therapy, we ended up even discussing how tending to land, growing & harvest, and the whole process could also be therapeutic. Over a decade after his passing, I still grieve for & mourn my dad. He wasn't a gardener either, however, my therapist & I discussed how gardening could be a way to commune with and/or honor him through nature.
And hence my garden dreams were born!
I've been garden daydreaming for the better part of 2 years now, window shopping for tools, accessories, seeds, and more. Tackling the deck, and finalizing that design, allowed me to view our entire outdoor properly with fresh eyes... not just seeing it the way we bought it, and instead, seeing it the way we'd use it & all the ways we could truly make it our own. Thinking about all the ways that we could make this space our own could only come with the clarity of not doing anything for the past two years. While, as first, I felt like I was behind, I had to keep reminding myself that we aren't on a clock - we own this house & we can take our time.
As an aside, you'll notice that this is why I've taken on fewer and fewer design collaborations in the past year. This is why. We literally don't owe anyone a "final reveal" and we reserve the right to change our mind when it comes to design decisions.
In the two years of thinking I should've been gardening yet not doing any gardening, I have acutally learned so much about how I hope #thehyggeranchjardin to become... and now here we are.
My Gardening Wishlist
Last year, I started a gardening wishlist, that I've since refined & pruned... no pun intended. I realized that I was coveting items that I thought I should be growing largely because of social media. Thankfully, I've matured past these social media influences, and I was able to discern between what would be nice to have & what we'll actually eat... because why go through all of the work of gardening if not to enjoy every single crop our garden produces. This change in perspective allowed my to aggressively edit my wishlist and go into the planning process with a lot more confidence.
In real time, I finally began the process of ordering seeds. Since it's spring break for us, I wanted to take the opportunity to let the mini get in on the action by also going to a local nursery to pick out some starters. With recommendations from neighbors + local photographer/friend Ellie Lillstrom, I'm shopping a few different nurseries on & offline for a mix of veggies, fruits, herbs, and flowers. I never understood why people took flowers into consideration when garden planning, erroneously assuming that flowers fell under landscaping; however, it wasn't until I began intentionally turning my daydreams into tangible plans that I saw the significance of flower integrations... and I love that for me!
High level, my wishlist for #thehyggeranchjardin is simple…
fruits & veggies that we regularly eat
a tea garden for my go to herbal blends
an herb garden for day to day cooking
florals that invoke feelings of peace & joy
In thinking about these key categories, top of the list for the garden is items that I will have the patience to learn & maintain. Because while I acknowledge there's gonna be a lot of trial & error and tweak & repeat, what I don't want is for this to turn into another full time job because I decided to have temperamental/challenging produce in my yard. Above all else, I want to enjoy gardening.
Coming Soon To The Hygge Ranch Jardin
I began making purchases based on my aforementioned criteria - fruits, veggies, herbs, and flowers - because why not lol. I learned from my neighbors that purchasing seeds and/or starters from box stars may be convenient in the short, however, not productive in the long term. Why? How? So glad you asked! Because this are nationwide retailers, the product they carry is coming from all over & therefore may not best suited for our specific region. On the other hand, a small, local nursery is more likely to carry varieties specific to the region & zone, allowing for a more productive garden over time. Our neighbors provided recommendations for local nurseries & my gardening friends gave me recommendations from places that I could order from online without compromising the integrity of my purchases.
Seed Shopping Resources
Botanical Interests | Renee’s Garden | Seed Savers Exchange| Sky Nursery | Territorial Seed Company | Uprising Seeds
💐 Gladiolus Mixed Bulbs
🌸Giant Stargazer Oriental Lily Bulbs
🌼Mixed Columbine Bulbs
🪷 Grand Duchess Lilac Dahlia Bulbs
🌺 Zinger Hibiscus Herbal Tea
🍋 Improved Meyer Tree
🫐 Cabernet Splash
🫐 Pink Lemonade
🍓 Albion
🍓 Seascape
🍓 Éclair
🍓 Hawaiian aka Pineberry
🍓 Mignonette Alpine
🍅 Cherry Roma
🍅 Beam's Yellow Pear
🌶️ Aji Cristal
🫑 Baby Belle Mini Snack/Salad
🥕 Carnival Blend
🥕 Harlequin Mix Rainbow
🧅 Red Amposta Bulb
🧅 Yellow Sweet Spanish Utah Bulb
🥬 Spinach Baby Greens
👩🏾🌾 Delicious Duo Salad Scallions
👩🏾🌾 Clemson Spineless Okra
👩🏾🌾 Culver Williams Asparagus
👩🏾🌾 Honeynut Winter Squash
👩🏾🌾 Waltham Butternut Winter Squash
The only big box items on this list are the flower bulbs, which were purchased from Overstock.com.
I've mentioned in previous gardening posts that, in addition to following gardening accounts on IG, purchasing gardening books online, and texting my gardening friends all hours of the day, I would be working with Ashley of Heirloom Potagerto curate & create our potager garden. Working with Ashley would ensure #thehyggeranchjardin would be both functional & gorgeous... a place where we could grow what we eat while also being a place of respite. I'll be doing a whole dedicated post to the process of working with Ashley, however, I cannot say this loud enough - it is absolutely worth it to talk to someone who knows what they're doing when it comes to gardening! As with any craft/trade/passion... letting people do what they do best grants you a level of peace of mind that is priceless! Ashley isn't local to my so she won't be doing the work & the maintenance for me - as a family, we'll still have to learn how to tend to our garden & find our groove. Her experience & insight paired with our passion & curiosity is gonna be what allows #thehyggeranchjardinto thrive.
And yes, I ran all of our purchases by her just in case. Here's a peak at what she did with my list…
Planting Plan by Heirloom Potager
The Hygge Ranch Jardin has a real garden plan y'all!
Up until this point I hadn't been able to actually visualize our garden because of all the other images swirling around in my head - the previous owner's garden, the gardens of our neighbors, and images we've saved on Pinterest. Now having the kind of garden I've dreamed of feels tangible & manageable... once we get these seeds in the ground aka our raised beds.
Because I can't help myself, I've also been shopping for gardening tools, decorative elements for the garden, and of course furnishings for the surrounding backyard area.
Going into this endeavor, means accepting that the garden may not actually look like a garden for quite some time... it means a lot of hurrying up & waiting... it means a whole lotta trial & error... and it means literally getting my hands dirty. I'm not exactly a "play in the dirt" kinda gal, however, I'm def looking forward watching things grow, learning as I do, and doing all of it with the mini.
Are you doing any gardening in the coming months? As I'm sharing my journey over on IG, feel free to tell me all about yours!
