10 Things The Garden Teaches Us About Ourselves

Humans are pretty much plants...

1. What 'is', 'is'.  A broccoli is a broccoli.  A tomato is a tomato.  The more you try to make something it is not, or wish it will be something else, the more you will  waste a whole lot of energy on your part and its' part. 
2. Learn your plants.  Take the time to learn about what the nature of your plants are - what will they fruit?  See its benefits, its challenges, and help to give it what it needs to be in its own positive, conducive environment.  The better able it is to become what it is meant to be, there more it will benefit everything around it. 
3. Get dirty.  It may seem yucky, but there is something very therapeutic about it.  Staying close to nature most often is.
4. You are not in control, but all you can do is love.  The entire garden has its' system.  Choose what will grow, then let it take it's course.  Nature always has a wisdom that strives for balance, homeostasis and growth even if some plants come and go.  Get rid of the noise of what a plant should be, should look like, should fruit and what someone else's plants look like and just chill, love and be loved. 
5. Depleted Soil.  Poor growth is often a result of a depleted/incomplete foundation.  If the plant isn't growing well and you learn the soil was depleted, amendments are necessary.  Take the time to learn what is missing, or not working and deal with it.  If you have 'weeds' depleting from your plants, take the time to get rid of them too before they get so big, they overshadow the plant
6. Prune.  A tomato plant, for instance, is not best spending all of its energy growing all over the place, as big as it can.  Decisions on where to grow (i.e. pruning 'suckers' and overgrowth) directs a plant to be more fruitful and abundant in the end and gives opportunity for strongest/most resilient focused growth
7. Beneficials.  No all bugs are bad.  Beneficials are bugs actually benefit the plants and potentially keep away other dangerous bugs.  Planting flowers and knowing where beneficials help can greatly assist your plants.  Lady bugs for getting rid of aphids, mason bees for pollinating gardens etc.
8. Companion planting.  Certain types of plants have great relationships.  Plant A may have properties that offend pests from Plant B (mint repels cabbage moths aphids and flea beetles), better the flavour of the fruiting plant (basil for tomatoes), attract things Plant B needs (yarrow attracts ladybugs, and wasps that prey on garden grubs), helps to amend the soil to what Plant B requires.  Choose the plants around you wisely and also respect and understand that some plants just aren't meant to be around each other too. Interesting article from Blue Zones
9. Crop rotation.  For a substantial amount of plants, planting the same thing in one spot over and over stagnates a plant and sometimes invites disease.  Understand that these plants need to move so they may learn and utilize the benefits of the new area to grow as healthy and strong as possible.
10. Learn from the setbacks.  Every season a gardener must take the time to learn from his/her mistakes and the environmental affects that other things had on each plant/the entire garden.  The more you learn from the losses and what went right, the more abundant you will be.  It's never about a perfect garden.  It is about trying new things, failing, learning and moving forward, and also learning to have a whole lot of faith.  All of this takes an investment of love - do this and the best things will grow.

The thing that differs people from plants is our socialization - a plant isn't overwhelmed by what it should be.  It just is.