What matters most in your garden?

I read the book The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi, and the main idea is "Embrace what matters most, ditch what doesn't, and get things done." She has 13 principles that were interesting. But it brings me to this...

When it comes to gardening, what matters most?

There are lots of things that I want to get done, and I always try to do more than I can, which results in too many half-finished projects. I'm simplifying this year, starting with deciding my priority. By definition, priority can mean only one, and Kendra emphasizes this with embracing what matters MOST. Multiple things can be important, but what stands out as the most important.

As I'm narrowing this down, I'm curious. What matters most this growing season for you and your garden?

Hahahaha--you've asked this question on a Permaculture site! And one of my favorite things about Permaculture is that it is everything-good-at-once.

So for the sake of cut-and-dried prioritizing...what matters most? I'll say "Working with the land to provide food for my family that we would otherwise buy at the grocery store."

However, with Permaculture, many of my goals work together. For example, local ecosystem support is a very very close second "most" for me, but I actually don't have to rank them with proper Design...if I Permaculture the one goal, I will be working toward many other good things as well.

I totally get the need to prioritize most things in life, though, so as to not become lodged in analysis paralysis, which is a daily problem I have!

Ha, good points, Rachel. A long-term permaculture goal is what I'm working toward with my land, but it's overwhelmed me in the short-term. Too many things that I *could* do right now.

The weather has been warming up recently, weeds are sprouting, and I'm taking a hard look at what I think I can actually do this year. I've decided my priority is food that grows with neglect. Even if it's not food that we'll eat or preserve this year, if it requires little effort from me, it grows. The garden won't have to look nice and neat, much to my husband's dismay. I have lots of seeds that I've saved for "special spots" or when I improve the soil in different areas. It's time for me to throw some seeds on the ground and see what flourishes rather than waiting for the "right" time.

I see this (at least) two ways - the goals and the constraints. I'm not sure in what context the book intends it to be meant.
I don't have a single goal for what I'm trying to achieve, I have a sort of 5 year plan for one aspect and I have several different garden themes or areas i which I try and achieve different things (my different ongoing projects).
In terms of constraints, my climate and soil give me particular challenges. Water is not a problem for me (generally speaking), but soil lacking nutrients and life through past abuse and lowish temperatures means plants are starved. Acidic soil also tends to limit uptake of particular elements. So my main goal has to be soil building. Optimising temperature helps with this as well, as it gets the soil organisms working to break organic material down. Improving drainage also works towards this as drier soil tends to be warmer. Growing plants for biomass, and adding seaweed for nutrients is also part of the same goal.
The soil matters most to me, but that's rather a big thing to have as a goal and is it not universal, does anyone have perfect soil?

Dear hubby does gardening because this is something he likes to do.

I do gardening so I can have things that I want.

I want pretty flowers, plump juicy tomatoes, yummy squash, etc.

I can't speak for dear hubby though I can say what matters the most in my garden is having foods that I like to eat and foods that I like to cook with.

I also like medical plants.