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Quote of the Day: Carol Deppe

February 24th, 2013

Before you were a gardener, you might have filled your schedule. Most non-gardeners do. But anything unexpected then results in overload. And most of life in unexpected. So you were always overloaded. You never had time for anything spontaneous or unscheduled. (And when a friend or family member needs you most it’s likely to be spontaneous or unscheduled.) You also seemed to live from crisis to crisis. You might have even thought your going from crises to crises “putting out fires everywhere” was because you were so important. In actuality, being always too busy for anything unscheduled or spontaneous are signs of a life not being lived as well as it could be, a life full of missed opportunities, a life too full of busyness for most of what makes life worth living.

Carol Deppe from The Resilient Gardener

realxing on the front porch
Mr Chiots and I have spent the last 4-5 years trying to cultivate simplicity in our lives. Simplicity doesn’t mean uncomplicated, it just means that you’re focusing on this things that truly bring you joy and happiness. Even though we don’t have much time to sit back and relax, the things that we spend our time doing are relaxing in their own way.

Have you found that gardening helps you manage your time better?

9 Comments to “Quote of the Day: Carol Deppe”
  1. Wendy on February 24, 2013 at 6:29 am

    Love this quote! Our family is also big on cultivating the simple and clearing the excess to make way for the meaningful. Thank you for this reminder!

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  2. daisy on February 24, 2013 at 6:30 am

    Most definitely. The time spent outside pruning, weeding or discovering some new creature centers me like nothing else. It is time well spent.

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    • Marina C on February 24, 2013 at 6:49 am

      Even though gardening is time consuming, it is centering and relaxing, because nature does not alter its schedule: you can’t speed it up, and you can’t slow it down.
      In the gardening season, I put gardening first , and it’s true, my schedule is more open.

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  3. amy on February 24, 2013 at 8:30 am

    Gardening manages my mind…..which then….is able to manage everything else including my time better. Best therapy there is. Adore the quote….spot on.

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  4. Nebraska Dave on February 24, 2013 at 9:20 am

    Susy, I checked the “Resilient Gardener” out of the library. I am about 2/3 of the way through the book. This book not only has excellent information about gardening but is filled with life philosophy. I’ve not read a gardening book quite like it before. I’m making my way through the chapter on squash now and will be into the chapter on beans and then on to corn. I would recommend this book to anyone that has a gardening interest. I may have to add this one to my home garden library. It’s definitely good to pass away the winter days with this book.

    Thanks for the recommendation and have a great day in Maine garden planning.

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  5. anno on February 24, 2013 at 10:33 am

    For me, gardening is still a new dance routine, which means it complicates my life. But it does make me much more aware of the rituals of a year, and more aware, as well, of the need to be flexible, to be willing to respond to the promise and possibility of any particular day.

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  6. KimH on February 24, 2013 at 11:55 am

    I agree with Amy.. for me, gardening is a meditation in action… and that is what helps me to manage my life & my time..

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  7. Maybelline on February 24, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    Gardening FORCES you to mange your time better. However, once it’s managed/prioritized life gets a bit simpler.

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  8. Marie on February 24, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    Gardening has, mostly, given me more of a reason to *want* to be outdoors and to make the time for it. When we bought our house there was zero landscaping save for a front bed with three giant hostas. We haven’t made a lot of progress, but there are now roses, a trellis with clematis, and a veggie garden (and I’ve attempted to blend in a raspberry bed, some rhubarb, and other edibles with the flowers). Birds actually come around our house, now, and I have actually wanted to be outside looking out over the things we’re growing rather than a flat plot of grass. We still have a long way to go, though, but the place is feeling more cozy each year.

    Reply to Marie's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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