Our Garden Mission Statement

Hello to a New Gardening Year!

A brand new year has me thinking about gardening goals, and I decided to jot down a few that are important to me.  While doing this, I realized what I was really doing was writing a garden mission statement. Yes, I do love a good mission statement. Old habits die hard (or don’t die at all.) Business plans, year-end summaries, new budgets, spreadsheets, etc.—that was such a big part of my world once upon a time. Still is, in a way.

Is that weird?

I don’t think so. (And who cares, anyway?) I’ve reached the age of not worrying about being thought of as weird.

“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours,
we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” ― Dr. Seuss

If you consider the reasons for having a mission statement of any sort, you’ll see how it can be a good thing. A business mission statement helps define an organization, setting forth its core values and beliefs, while encouraging a bit of goal-setting for the future. We do a similar thing when we choose our word of the year, right?

A garden is an organization too. A vital one, in fact. After all, without pollinators we can say goodbye to blueberries in our oatmeal. Who wants a strawberry-less strawberry cake? A salad without tomatoes or root vegetables? No thanks.

So yes, writing a garden mission statement is a fantastic way to kick off a new gardening year. And even though our space in town is not large, the members of our organization are a diverse variety of flora, fauna, and fungi, each with different wants and needs. And, for as long as my husband and I are entrusted with this space, understanding and fostering our members’ needs is important to us.

So yeah, I like the idea of it.

A garden mission statement was harder to write than I imagined.

Garden Mission Statement

After a bit of brainstorming, here’s what I came up with:

Our garden is a place of beauty, balance, and nourishment—where the soil is honored, pollinators are welcomed, and each season invites us to learn, grow, and share. By tending this space with intention and respect for nature, we cultivate not only healthy plants, but also creativity, connection, and a deeper sense of belonging.

🌿 Garden Goals for a Healthy Garden (aka digging deeper into our garden mission statement)

1.  Build Healthy Soil – Prioritize composting, mulching, and organic amendments to feed the earth first.
2. Grow a Variety of Plants – Mix vegetables, herbs, flowers, and native plants to support resilience and pollinators. Maintain habitat consistent with our property’s Certified Monarch Waystation designation.
3. Conserve Water – Practice smart watering with rain cistern, drip irrigation, and Ollas.
4. Attract Pollinators & Beneficial Insects – Plant blooms across seasons and avoid chemicals.
5. Welcome Birds – Plant nectar-rich flowers, keep bird feeders refilled and cleaned, provide shrubs for shelter and nesting, offer a water source, minimize bird strikes on windows, use no chemicals.
6. Weed & Pest Management Naturally – Use hand-weeding, mulching, and natural pest remedies.
7. Practice Seasonal Care – Prep beds in spring, nurture through summer, tuck in for fall, and rest in winter.
8. Make it Dog Friendly – Secure fencing, provide play spaces, avoid dog-toxic plants and mulch, clean and refill water bowls.
9. Create Joy & Beauty – Incorporate spaces for sitting, observing, and celebrating the garden’s daily magic. Add garden art and found objects for interest. Take photos throughout the year. Spread the love with passalong plants.
10. Be a Student of Nature – Keep a garden phenology record, noticing changes over time, researching what stumps us, and celebrating the creatures migrating through. Document the garden via photos.

2025 in Photos:

A photo for each month….

“Both of them loved the earth and the things that grew in it.”
― Sandra Dallas

***

January is the perfect time to reflect on the world outside your kitchen window and maybe even write your own garden mission statement. Whether your garden is planted across several acres or contained in galvanized buckets on your back porch, its lessons are far-reaching and shaped by the seasons.

A garden is never finished, and neither are we. It reminds us that growth happens best when we listen closely and tend with grace.

I hope you find joy and peace in the natural world this year. And let me know if you write a mission statement for your garden.

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing: