@thetemperategardener | radicle.substack.com
NOTICE
Gardening has taught me so much, not least about myself and the lens through which I view life. One of the valuable lessons it has taught me is to question my ideas of perfection and of striving and, related to this, ideas of shame and achievement and appearances.
My garden has given me so much in terms of freeing me from the prison of perfectionism. When I first moved in, I immediately noticed the many ‘weeds’ that were thriving here. I am privileged to have a large garden, but it also came with what many people would see as pernicious weeds: ground elder, bracken, horsetail, rosebay willowherb and brambles to name a few. I knew straight away that I was going to have to reframe how I saw them to avoid engaging in a never-ending and stressful battle.
I knew for my health, sanity and enjoyment that that was not how I wanted to feel about, view or approach this patch of land I
