I went for coffee with my daughter the other day and we were talking about the forest garden at the Vicarage. Amanda said, “It’s like we live in Snowwhite’s Cottage, Dad.”

Today I was on a call with my sister and she commented, “You have let the gardens go for so long that what you have is a mature forest. You don’t need to make it into a forest garden you need to prune the forest and make it more usable.”

She is right, of course, Our little micro forest is severely overgrown. I do need to make it more productive as I practice permaculture.

I guess the questions I need to ask are “what do I really want my forest to do?” and “what do I want my forest to be?”

Honestly I love the gardening aspect. As I have turned back to it this year I have loved cultivating my own flowers and my own food. I want to do more of that next year.

But it is not just about the productivity of the gardens; I also love the wildlife and the domesticated life we have in the garden.

I love the animals. As I prune the garden I want to make it a more usable habitat for us as a family but also for the little creatures that live in the forest around us. I can’t imagine not having cardinals and woodpeckers and bluejays and grackles and squirrels and rabbits and chickens. I love that I have to leave the clover long for the rabbits to eat and I love that I have to buy birdseed and suet for my winged critters. I even love it when the squirrels and chipmunks come to steal the food from the birds for their midwinter snacks.

I love being able to cook a meal straight from the garden and I love being able to eat that meal while watching God’s creatures from my dining room windows. I realize that everyone had goals in gardening. These are mine.

IF YOU HAVE A GARDEN, WHAT ARE YOUR GARDENING GOALS?