Garden Planning: The 80:20 rule

I love seeds. I love the way they look. I love what they grow into and I love the way the feel in my hands. And I love trialing lots of varieties together to compare how they grow and taste.

It's easy for someone like me to get carried away at this time of year. I know I'm not alone.

To prevent myself from getting overwhelmed by seeds I follow the 80:20 rule. 80% of things I grow will be varieties and crops I know grow well and already love. 20% will be variety trials or new crops I've never grown before. We'll have 30 beds next year so that leaves 6 full beds to use to trial new varieties in *she rubs hands with glee*

This rule can work at any scale. If you've got 5 beds of flowers, grow 4 beds worth of things you know and love, one bed of something new. Or say you're limiting yourself to 10 packets of seed, you can buy 8 'firm favourites' and 2 'new and interestings'.

This will help:

a) Set yourself up for gardening success

b) Avoid Seed Catalogue Overwhelm (aka SCO *not yet an NHS recognised condition*)

c) Keep things interesting

Good luck planning your garden this year!