I am very blessed to have discovered Landrace Gardening and being put on the right path. There are hundreds of paths in gardening, and I think most of them lead to spinning our wheels.
I also have a large reading list. However, I am changing as a person. I am beginning to see things differently. I’ve decided to put all of my energy into direct experience. If I have anything leftover, then that goes to reading.
For example, I have no idea if my bulbing onions will succeed. I suspect it will get too hot by the time they are ready to form bulbs. I did not take the time to research each variety painstakingly. Most of the variety descriptions are copy paste by someone in an office anyways. Some of them might not even be true to their name. They might be substitutes. I’d rather try and fail while learning a lot more. My memory is not the best. Pain has a way of making sure I remember.
Too much reading has a way of putting us in a box. I have discovered many things on my own that I could have learned from a book. I used to think I could soak up someone else’s wisdom by reading what they wrote, letting them learn the hard way while I got the wisdom at a discount. I no longer think that is true. Easy lessons don’t stick. I have to touch the red flame to learn.
Let me share with you an insight that I gained about a decade ago in a writing conference. It has been a life-changing insight of great importance to me.
If you want to improve quickly, the fastest way to do so is with equal amounts of study and practice. Lots of practice and little study will lead to very slow improvement. Lots of study and little practice will, too. Equal amounts are what you want, if you want to improve rapidly.
You can think of it in very simple mathematical terms. Let’s say you have 4 hours to spend on either study or practice. Here are five possibilities:
4 hours of study x 0 hours of practice = 0 hours of skill gained
0 hours of study x 4 hours of practice = 0 hours of skill gained
3 hours of study x 1 hours of practice = 3 hours of skill gained
1 hours of study x 3 hours of practice = 3 hours of skill gained
2 hours of study x 2 hours of practice = 4 hours of skill gained
Do you see what a difference that makes?
I personally find that studying gardening – which includes reading, watching YouTube videos, and discussing on forums like this one – is an ideal activity for when the weather is unpleasant to spend outside, or when I’m doing something else inside, like cleaning a room.
I have personally made the mistake of “way too much practice and not enough study” when it came to learning art. I improved far more slowly than everyone else I knew who was drawing seriously. It caused me a lot of jealousy and pain.
When I found out about this concept, I realized that was what had happened: they were all doing roughty equal amounts of both, and I was mostly only doing one. When I decided to start putting more time into studying, I started seeing more results.
Do both. Do whichever makes sense to do at any given time, enjoy both, and value both. Each one enhances the effectiveness the other.
I can see you points as valid. That is probably more true when learning a nuanced and complicated skill, and probably less true for something simple like shooting a basketball in a hoop. Then there is the difference in the person.
My career requires that I discuss ideas with many different people face to face, so I can see in real time causes and effects. I have picked up some human nature insight that I would like to share.
People assume and generalize too much. Most people think they know more than they really do. Last year, I was late to plant okra. Since I kept hearing how much okra loves the heat, I figured it would take my summer like a champ. It turns out “heat lover” is a relative term. Anyways, I don’t put too much stock on what people say about this or that. I listen, but I still plant anyways and trust what I see with my own eyes.
What is most important is being an independent thinker and relying on number 1 as the key guide to what is true. If I stuck to the script, I wouldn’t grow carrots because I don’t have soft and fluffy soil. You probably wouldn’t be growing bananas.
I see this too. I’ve been learning how to give presentations on Adaptation Gardening. Sometimes I felt like my audience got it, sometimes they just looked so bored. I did not understand what was going on.
So a couple of weeks ago I read the first 20 pages of a book called Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences’. So I put what I read into action. Bam. Audience got my message. Now I need to read the rest of the book. Dang, reading is hard when there’s so much to do!
Was it a general audience or people who are involved in agriculture?
When I tell people I like to breed plants for better … fill in the blank, I usually don’t see interest light up on their face so I move on to something else.
Also, I am referring to many people as a one to one or small group scenario. I do not do public speaking for a living.
I’ve been speaking to groups of gardeners. Some of whom save seeds already.
Last couple gatherings have been organized by seed librarians. More of that coming up, I like those audiences.
In one case I assumed (head of time) that the audience was more experienced than they actually were, there were too many beginners I didn’t count on. But with my revised presentation content I could probably speak to them more effectively now. I’m spending more time on the mindset of embracing failure, lotta lotta gardening and seed saving anxiety out there, and it runs so deep.
Being attentive gives us opportunities to learn. Now that I am growing cilantro, I am beginning to notice weed lookalikes.
Also, experience combined with reflecting on what could be done differently or better. Doing the same thing the same way vs making an adjustment based on prior learning.
That’s a great example of how study and practice can sometimes happen at the same time!
In drawing, “study” doesn’t just mean reading books. One of the most important types of studying, in visual art, is to draw or paint from a reference. That’s basically both.
The two can often be intermingled in everything, including gardening.
There is enough information attached to the link above to keep someone busy learning for a long time. The blueberry 2023 vulnerability report looked interesting.
It’s also interesting to learn what the USDA deems important crops, and their thought process regarding germplasm management and priorities.
