Let’s chat about the joy of tiny harvests and why even the smallest yields from your garden are worth celebrating and savoring.
Small gardens can have big yields, but more often than not, our gardens give us small harvests. The good news? Small harvests matter. A lot.
You know what’s really Instagram-worthy? Big, overflowing garden baskets. Wheelbarrows of peppers. Tables filled with pumpkins and squash. Kitchen counters lined with jars and jars of homemade tomato sauce.
Those moments are wonderful, sure, but they’re not the only ones that count.
Less likely to go viral are the tiny harvests.
A few snipped herbs, one perfect flower, or a handful of cherry tomatoes.
These are real harvests, and they are worth celebrating.
What Counts as a Harvest? (Everything.)
Let’s think for a minute about what counts as a harvest. What do you picture or expect a “garden harvest” to look like?
Does it have to be bushels of produce to count? A lush bouquet?
Or can it be:
- One juicy cherry tomato warmed by the sun
- A pinch of chives to top your scrambled eggs in the morning
- A single, multi-petaled dahlia
- Three mint leaves infusing in your water glass
Did you imagine any of these?
Every time we pick something from our gardens, no matter how small, is a moment of connection with our garden. It’s a moment to cherish and to celebrate. A moment to slow down, touch the soil, and take something beautiful or nourishing into our hands.
For me, I love to celebrate the firsts of every season: the first green onion, the first sprig of mint, the first ripe strawberry, etc.
That’s where the joy begins.
The Joy of Tiny Harvests
What’s so great about a tiny harvest?
Well, for one thing, you can use it up right away. You don’t have to spend hours preserving or canning something.
You can just snip, sip, enjoy it, and move on.
Tiny harvests are easy to use up, and they really do add up.
A handful of herbs here, a few edible flowers there…
Small garden harvests invite us to slow down and notice.
They’re also easier to appreciate. When you only have one perfect flower, you really look at it.
You notice the layers of petals, the shift of color, the curve of the stem.
And in early spring, these little harvests are like an appetizer for what’s to come. They build anticipation and ease us into abundance.
Tiny harvests remind us to have gratitude and to find wonder in the small gifts from our garden.
We’re so used to instant gratification and getting what we want with one-day free shipping. Gardening doesn’t work that way.
(Though there are a few vegetables you can plant and harvest from in less than a couple months!)
For instance, perennials can take a few years to get going and produce a harvest.
That just makes the first tiny harvest that much sweeter and more precious.
We can learn to be more present as gardeners when we’re not chasing yield or measuring quantity over quality.
How to Make Tiny Harvests a Ritual
Here are a few ways to celebrate and enjoy small yields:
- Use a beautiful basket, bowl, or cloth napkin to collect your harvest. Make it feel special!
- Snap a photo of your tiny harvest or write about it in your garden journal. April 30: Made mint tea using the first fresh mint leaves from the garden.
- Keep a small spice jar or tiny vase on your windowsill or by your bed for single blooms.
- Dry small herb harvests on a rack and mix your own “tiny harvest” herb blend.
- Brew single cups of herbal tea using fresh herbs like mint and chamomile. (More of my favorites here.) Take time to savor it.
The more you practice it, the more you’ll notice just how much your garden gives you.
Let me know in the comments what tiny harvest ritual speaks to you or if you have any rituals of your own that you might want to implement!
Bigger Isn’t Always Better
Cliche? Maybe.
True? Absolutely.
Bigger isn’t always better.
You don’t need to have wheelbarrows of garden harvests to call yourself a gardener.
You don’t need lush bouquets to bring the beauty of flowers into your home.
If you picked even one thing today–you grew something.
And that matters.
Tiny Harvest Starter List
Not sure where to begin? Here are a few of my favorite plants that give abundantly throughout the season.
- Mint
Perfect for herbal teas or infused water in the heat of summer. Great to grow in containers and nearly impossible to kill. - Basil
The more you harvest this herb, the more it grows. Be sure to pinch the growing tips as you harvest rather than just taking leaves. Every time you snip a stem, it will double right above a set of leaves. - Cherry tomatoes
These are some of the most prolific producers in the garden and the flavor of a perfectly ripe cherry tomato can’t be beat. - Pole beans
Unlike bush beans, pole beans will continue to produce pods all summer long. Grow these on a trellis or with some support for them to climb on. Freeze small batches if for some reason you aren’t able to use it all at once! - Zucchini
Zucchini is a big plant with big yields. One plant will probably be enough unless you’re wanting to eat more than one zucchini per day. - Chives
Lots of onion flavor is packed in this amazing perennial herb. It’s hardy to zone 4, and the flowers are both beautiful and edible. - Oregano
Oregano spreads like mint, but less aggressively. It’s very easy to grow and propagate. Dry this herb in small batches throughout the summer and you’ll have enough to last through the winter. - Zinnias
Cut-and-come-again flowers like zinnias are beautiful solo and in bouquets. There are so many different types to choose from! See my favorites here. - Dahlias
Much like zinnias, dahlias make big impact alone or combined in a bouquet. If you’ve never grown dahlias, I highly recommend trying them out! - Leaf Lettuce
Leaf lettuce forms loose heads. Harvest the outer layers of leaves and “leaf” the inner ones to grow. This way you can get continuous small harvests of lettuce for a longer period of time.