If I were to sum up this garden season in a single word, it would be preoccupation.

We started the garden late, but we started strong. We redid the whole layout and even added a nice sitting area where we could sip coffee and watch over our vegetables. Unfortunately, we probably only used those seats about four times over the whole growing season.

Similarly, in the early season we were there a few times a week to check on things and do a bit of weeding. By halfway through the season we were stopping by at best once a week.

There was a simple reason for this laziness: we were both feeling overtaxed by trying to work full-time and also crank away on the bus. So, instead of trying to battle this laziness, we leaned into it.

When crops failed, we just planted squash. At the end of the growing season, fully half the garden was dominated by massive spaghetti squash, pumpkin, and acorn squash plants. They did exactly what we had hoped–they thrived in our laziness and gave us a large harvest in spite of our neglect.

Hopefully the next time we plant a garden we have a bit more time to devote to it. But that likely won’t be for a while. For the next few years it’s the bus life for us.