Weekender #229

🗣️ Learn how to embrace feedback without getting defensive.

🤖 Confidence with AI skyrockets when team training is hands-on and practical.

💸 The must-read financial growth books stacking our bookshelves.

💪 Strong muscles support more than your body.

My grandma is the kind of gardener whose tomatoes are always sweeter, whose hydrangeas are always fuller, and whose yard looks like it belongs in a magazine.

She taught my mom. My mom taught me. Now, the three of us have gardens full of vegetables, fruit trees, flowers, and more houseplants than we probably need.

Here are her tried-and-true tips; the kind that don’t just make your plants survive, they make them thrive.

Step One: Know Your Zone

Before you plant anything, know your climate.

Grandma’s rule: don’t fight your zone.

Use these two guides to know when to plant and what to plant when:

• USDA Plant Hardiness Map
• The Old Farmer’s Almanac Planting Calendar

If you plant the right thing at the right time, half your work is already done.

Outdoor Gardening Must-Follows

1. Kill Weeds Before They Start

Three months before planting season, lay flattened cardboard boxes (remove tape and stickers) or thick newspaper directly over weeds in your garden beds.

Let the rain break it down naturally.

When it’s time to plant, poke holes through and plant directly into the soil. The cardboard or newspaper decomposes, and you’ll have almost zero weeds.

Add three inches of mulch around trees, shrubs, and flower beds to keep weeds down. Just don’t pile mulch against trunks or stems because that causes crown rot.

2. Tomatoes Need Strategy

• Break off the three lowest branches before planting
• Dig a 3-5 inch trough instead of one deep hole
• Lay the plant horizontally and cover most of the stem

Tomatoes grow roots along buried stems, which makes them incredibly strong.

⭐ Bonus: Plant basil and geraniums nearby and add two inches of fresh soil around the base to help deter bugs.

3. Take Care of the Soil, Not Just the Plants

“Gardening isn’t about plants. It’s about soil.”

Healthy soil has:

• Texture
• Moisture
• Oxygen
• Nutrients
• Microbial life

If what’s happening underground is strong, what’s happening above ground usually takes care of itself.

Remove debris, dead leaves, fallen fruit, and broken branches because they harbor insects and disease. Compost them if your pile gets hot enough to kill pathogens.

4. Prune Properly

• Prune in late winter or early spring
• Trim before buds fully form
• Cut at an angle
• Keep fruit trees under six feet tall and wide

Shorter trees are safer and easier to harvest. It may take a few seasons of gradual pruning to get there.

5. Water Smarter

• Never water in the heat of the day
• Water at the roots, not the leaves
• Morning is best

Feed your lawn monthly during cold, wet winter months. Winter rain helps water it in and reduces rust disease.

Extra Pro Tips

• Drill a hole in leftover pumpkins and leave them in your yard for squirrels and wildlife in winter
• Keep bird feeders full, but disinfect regularly to prevent disease
• If you’re new to gardening, try seed tape for easy spacing

Indoor Plant Rules Grandma Swears By

Fertilize Monthly

Bi-weekly, or at least once a month. No exceptions.

Tip: Most fertilizers don’t smell very good and can sometimes stink up your space. Try this odorless fertilizer.

Bottom Water Everything

Fill your sink or bathtub and let plants soak from the bottom up. This:

• Prevents overwatering
• Encourages deeper roots
• Reduces fungus issues

Always let plants drain fully before returning them to decorative pots. Poor drainage leads to root rot.

Check Soil the Right Way

Set reminders:

• Weekly in summer
• Every two weeks in winter

Stick your finger two inches into the soil:

• Damp? Don’t water.
• Dry at one inch? Time to water.

Not all plants need water on the same schedule.

Fiddle Leaf Figs Are Dramatic

Choose their placement carefully. Once placed, don’t move them. They are extremely sensitive to light and temperature changes.

Potting Matters

Use terracotta or plastic pots inside decorative ceramic ones.

Remove from the decorative pot before watering. Let it drain fully. Then return it.

Harvesting Like a Pro

• Harvest in the morning for peak crispness and flavor
• Harvest frequently when plants are full-grown (sometimes daily)
• Use clean scissors or garden snips instead of pulling by hand, especially for herbs, lettuce, peppers, and beans
• Support the vine with one hand while picking larger fruits like tomatoes or zucchini to prevent tearing the plant
• Do not wash produce until you’re ready to use it; store dry to extend freshness
• Let onions, garlic, and potatoes cure in a cool, dry place for a couple of weeks before storage to help them last for months

Freezer hacks:

• Wash, dry, and freeze extra tomatoes whole
• Slice lemons and limes, freeze in bags

They double as ice cubes and never water down your drink.

The Roots of It All

Gardening is patience.

It’s preparing months before planting.

It’s pruning when nothing looks alive.

It’s trusting what’s happening underground.

If you care for the soil, the timing, and the roots, everything else grows.

Even you. 🌱

Cameron (TA Ops) & Grandma Robyn

Be honest: how much of your Excel workflow is manual because “that’s just how you learned it”?

Dragging formulas. Cleaning columns one by one. Double-checking you didn’t break something.

Chances are you learned Excel by Googling, copying formulas, and hoping for the best.

Miss Excel (Kat Norton) is hosting a free 60-minute class that teaches the shortcuts and automations most of us never learned — the kind that make you faster and way more confident when someone asks for numbers “real quick.”

You’ll learn how to:

• clean messy data in minutes
• use formulas that actually save time
• build simple reports and pivots
• automate repeat tasks
• move at keyboard-shortcut speed

If Excel shows up in your job even occasionally, this pays off immediately.

👉 Save your spot in the free class.

📚 Read: Credence by Penelope Douglas

If you’re in the mood for a romance that’s intense, messy, and absolutely not “light beach read” energy, Credence delivers. It’s addictive in that “I should go to sleep but I can’t stop” way, with characters making big choices and bigger mistakes.

📺 Watch: I Love LA (HBO Max)

This is a love letter to LA that feels honest. Perfect for when you want that city buzz from your couch, plus a reminder of why LA has a chokehold on so many of us.

🎧 Listen: E85 by Don Toliver

For the R&B girlies who want something that still hits like a workout track: this one has a ridiculously catchy beat that makes it hard to sit still. If you’re already a Don Toliver fan, it’s an easy add to your rotation when you need that extra push to lock in and move.

If your joints are talking back or your usual workouts just aren’t working like they used to, it may be time for a different approach.

Wall Pilates is a low-impact way to build strength, improve balance, and support your core using just a wall at home. It’s gentle on your joints, easy on your nervous system, and designed to work with your body.

Women say they feel less stiff in the first week, more energized in the second, and start noticing more tone by week four.

Because this isn’t about pushing harder. It’s about finding what actually works for your body now.

Take the quick now to get a plan tailored to you.

🗓️ Upcoming Events

• Thurs 3/12 @ 10AM PT: Think Like a Leader: 3 Strategic Frameworks to Build Your Power (SGS Only* | Join the waitlist)
• On Demand: 2026 Compliance Predictions Companies Can’t Afford to Ignore

Smart Girl Society is our private community for women who want deeper conversations, accountability, and tools that actually make life easier. Join the waitlist to get in the next round.

🐶 Pet of the Week: Meet Max

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