It's important to use PTAV (present tense active voice) when articulating goals. Setting goals in the present tense helps us see what it feels like by saying "this is the way it is". The goals set set this way are not in the past or the future, and are more powerful in the present. Using an active voice, we become the do-ers, connecting thought and action, theory to practice.
Here is a worksheet adapted from Edible Forest Gardens Volume 2 that describes the goal articulation process in depth:
1) Our garden grows and feeds us the produce we currently eat most often:
- Salad - cucumber, lettuces, tomatoes (heirloom, cherry), onions, peppers, carrots, cilantro, spinach
- Fruits - (short term) strawberries, ground cherries, watermelon, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes
2) Our garden grows and fees us new food that we love to eat but never knew about before our PDC
- fruits - pawpaw, persimmons, elderberry, mulberry, hardy kiwis
- vegetables - yamberries, ground nuts, tomatillos
- herbs - lavender, sage, rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley, mint (peppermint and chocolate mint), curry, chives, anise hissop, borage
- Flowers - for bee forage and beauty/aesthetics
3) We hang out in a chill social space outside near our garden
- protected from the wind
- comfortable seating
- nice view
- grab and go snacks available with little effort
4) We attract abundant wildlife to our garden and they love it here, including: birds, chipmunks, ducks, bees, dragonflies, ladybugs, spiders, worms, mushrooms, microbes, squirrels
5) We have a pond that supports a vibrant aquaculture including: fish, frogs, water chestnuts, lilies
These goals were ambitious in our first year of applying permaculture. We did not meet all of our goals, and many goals were not realized in the ways that we thought they would in the beginning. We didn't grow many shrubs or trees, and focused on perennial and annual herbaceous crops for the most part. We did however, eat a lot of food from the backyard, made salads, tinctures, sat and enjoyed abundant wildlife while eating alpine strawberries, all which happened after many steps later in the design process...