3 Hacks I Learned About Burnout From My Garden’s Zucchini

and a recipe that’s super easy, you’ll use it all the time!

Sep 20, 2024

Gardens are absolutely gorgeous places. You plant a few seeds. Water them. Let the sun heat the soil. Wait a while. Then magically, you visit one day, and you find something ready to harvest.

This is my third year in a community garden. When you live in a townhouse with only a back patio to claim as growing space, you get creative with what you plant. Veggies aren’t on my list - it’s too shady.

Luckily, my city thrives on community. Decades ago, a family donated their property to the city. Now it’s home to a couple hundred gardeners who grow food for themselves, a children’s garden to help kids get in tune with the outdoors, and lots of space where volunteers work to create food for our local food pantry.

It’s an awesome place on so many levels.

Stop Doing …

“The number one cause of burnout is doing the same thing over and over again and not seeing results.” ~Steve Kaczmarski

I recently read that burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. It’s often the result of too much energy output and not enough fuel to keep going.

To overcome burnout requires rest and mindfulness. It’s about finding more purpose in the everyday.

That’s another way of saying: Stop doing for the sake of doing.

I think we all find ourselves in that mode from time to time. I’m bad at that. It’s to-do lists and calendars and checkboxes just waiting to be checked. And we strive for it - I know I do. We’ve built ourselves this life - oh, can it be draining over time.

I thought about that as I made my way to my garden.

Was I doing just for the sake of doing? I felt like it more and more.

The motivation was gone. I wasn’t sure I was saying what I wanted to say. Scratch that; I knew I wasn’t saying what was deep inside.

Because there is so much down there, waiting to burst out. I know it. I feel it.

But I’m scared. Scared, because I don’t have the same views as other people. Nervous, because I’ve had trolls smack out at me once, and I don’t want a repeat.

Then I noticed something.

Zucchini … If you’ve ever grown it, you know it never stops.

You cut the first one and go home proud. You’ve grown a zucchini! And it’s huge!

I whipped up dinner, and baked a zucchini bread for good measure. Yum!

A couple days later, another zucchini as big as the first.

A few days later, a third. And so on.

They keep coming. They keep growing. They keep producing.

They look different. They are different. But they keep doing what they’re supposed to do. No judgment.

What if I approached my writing the same way?

Always trying something new. Always sharing something from the heart. Always caring about my story … without thinking about all that could go wrong.

Because in the end, I know it will resonate with the people who matter most.

A New Way Of Being Busy …

“Just because you take breaks doesn’t mean you’re broken.” ~Curtis Tyrone Jones

It’s late in the season. Everything is grown, producing, ready to be picked.

It doesn’t need as much water - nature is doing its thing.

But still, I have to visit. Because it’s summer. Because it’s warm. Because I love to walk through the gardens and look at what’s there.

I adore my flowers as the blooms pop into life. I love watching the birds as they dance in and out of the water …

That’s when it hits me.

I love the garden because it’s me. It’s who I am in this world. It’s what gives me life, breath, a sense of being.

It’s where I’m meant to be.

Not sitting in front of the computer, wondering when the words will come. Not worried about a self-imposed deadline that’s come and gone.

Because sometimes, the most important place to be … is with me.

Where I decide what’s important. Where I get back to simple living.

Deep inside, I know that’s the problem. Simple. Not multitasking. Not worrying about all the things on my plate.

That’s where overwhelm started. That’s where I started losing me.

So maybe, just maybe, there’s an ebb and flow. A time for going a lot, and a time for doing a little. Neither is wrong. Neither is correct. It just is.

It seems easy to type, difficult to live. I should be doing.

And I am. Walking through the rows of gardens. Noticing every tiny detail.

Breathing fresh air. Taking in the sights and smells.

It’s Starting To Get Warm …

I say: Pacific Northwest.
You say: Rain.

Yep, I hear that all the time when I tell people where I live.

Yes, we do get our share of rain. But somewhere between May and July, the rains grow further apart. It turns into a mist you can barely feel. It doesn’t do much for the ground. And then it stops altogether.

The nights stay cool even if the days heat up into the 80s, 90s.

Can it be challenging to grow? You bet! Many days in June have lows in the 40s, something my veggies revolt against in the garden.

But eventually, things happen. June turns to July. July turns to August.

Things start to grow.

Overnight, they appear …

Zucchini!

One. Then another.

And we’re left with the challenge of incorporating them into our meals.

For the first one out of the garden, it’s got to be something special.

This is when I like to keep things simple. Here in the summer, when I’d rather spend my time outside, than inside spending hours in front of the stove.

This is where kitchen joy comes into play.

Make it easy. Just enjoy.

It doesn't take much for a meal to come together.

My very first zucchini, chopped in half, then quartered, drawn into bite sized pieces.
Romano beans I bought from the farmers market earlier in the week.
A red pepper I’d picked up from the store.
Tempeh.

In 10 minutes, bite-sized pieces are ready to cook.

First, a little olive oil. Then brown the tempeh, with a little salt and pepper for flavor.
The romano beans are next, softening them up.
Add the pepper for a few more minutes.
The zucchini takes minutes in the pan.
Add the tempeh back in and give it a stir.
Add salt and pepper, and a few of your favorite spices.
I sprinkle in fresh oregano I picked from my garden just hours before.
A little cumin. A little paprika.

Serve. Mmmm …

It’s fresh. It’s easy. It’s also adaptable. And that’s a good thing with so much zucchini.

Switch chickpeas for tempeh.
Trade sweet potatoes for Romano beans.
Add broccoli. Add spinach and kale.

It doesn’t have to be complicate. Don’t overthink it.

What else is growing in your garden? It might just make a wonderful addition.

How Do You Know …

“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” ~Lou Holtz

When you work at a community garden, you volunteer. It’s a given. It’s a part of having your own space, a rule you’ll donate some time to the community.

And in a garden, there’s always something to do. A weed to pick. (Or two.) Mulch to move.

I was an hour in, pushing my tenth wheelbarrow filled mulch to spread in the apple tree garden. It’s a favorite spot where many stop for a few minutes to enjoy the shade, or share lunch at the table. My arms ached. I could feel it in my back.

Farm work. Sitting at a desk typing out words doesn’t prepare you for the manual labor of working with a wheelbarrow. Filling it up. Dumping it out. Spreading around the mulch.

When my project was through, I meandered back to my own garden, just for a peek. To cut a few flowers for my office. And pick another zucchini.

The plant that keeps on giving.

But walking around saying hi to my neighbors, feeling the pain from so many wheelbarrows of mulch, yet feeling the good tired that comes with a productive day of work.

That’s what I’d been missing. Or at least a part of it.

Working for the sake of working wasn’t working anymore.

Saying yes to the wrong things wasn’t satisfying. It had become draining. Draining in so many ways I’d never noticed before.

What I’d learned at the garden was I was no longer helping others, not in a way that felt satisfying.

I thought back to the younger me, when I felt I was making a difference.

What does that mean? What does that look like? Where had it gone?

Burnout doesn’t come from excessive work. It comes from working on the wrong work. From not having the time for the most important things.

Does that change from time to time? You bet.

Yet I’m dealing with all the “stuff” accumulated from decades of owning my own business, files that should have been cleaned out many years before.

Working on the same stuff, over and over.

Doing things that rarely leave me feeling satisfied from a job well done.

So maybe that’s where it starts. Getting in touch with who I am today. What’s most important. And where I need to be.

It’ll come. That’s the good thing about giving yourself time to just be.

To appreciate all the garden has given, even as it’s slowly dying off for the season.

Yet still today, one more zucchini …

It’s what’s for dinner.

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