Evan X. Merz

It's January 2026. Everyone is making resolutions, and I'm not going to be left out.

In fact, I think there's value in thinking about what you want to accomplish in a given year and writing it down. Setting goals or making resolutions is a valuable way of organizing your thoughts and ensuring you are staying focused on the right things.

So here we go.

1. Take better care of my tools

After a few years of gardening, and a certification as a UC Master Gardener, I've acquired some decent gardening tools. Not all of them are expensive, but all of them are functional. Yet, my care for them can be somewhat lackadaisical. I rarely sharpen blades or remove rust. In fact, I'm ashamed to admit that I often put my tools away muddy, wet, or covered in grass.

Here's a picture from this morning when I left out my clippers overnight.

In 2026 I want to do better by my tools. I want to remove the rust, and I want to sharpen the blades. But most importantly, I want to keep my tools dry and clean.

2. Grow pole beans for the first time

Every year I try to grow something new. Last year I grew eggplant for the first time. It wasn't a glowing success. This year I want to grow pole beans.

Pole beans are part of why I became interested in gardening in the first place. I remember playing catch in the summer in my grandfather's backyard, and just pulling all the string beans off his trellis and eating them while we played. They were delicious, and probably the first vegetables that I was ever excited to eat. The memory of those beans motivated me to tend my own garden, yet I've only ever grown bush beans.

In 2026 I will try to grow pole beans for the first time.

3. Harvest a significant amount of fruit from fruit trees

Currently I have six fruit trees in my yard. One strawberry fruit tree, one persimmon, one valencia orange, two figs, and one pomegranate. I've harvested fruit off every one except the pomegranate.

But I've never harvested much fruit off any of them.

This year most of those trees will be mature enough to produce. I'd like to get a good harvest off of at least one of them.

4. Build more thoughtful garden structures

I have been trying to teach myself more DIY skills that are useful in the garden. Lately I've been honing my skills working wood. I want to be able to build any garden structure that I want in a form that fits my purpose. I mostly want to use wood, but I want to stretch myself to use whatever material is most appropriate for a given design.

I started the year off strong by building a collapsible string trellis. This trellis will help me grow peas and pole beans.

I would also like to refine my low 1 meter square garden bed design, and perhaps make a more elaborate trellis for the grapes I grow on my driveway.

5. Be better at sharing my work

Finally, I want to be better about sharing my work.

I do lots of interesting work in my garden. When the time comes that I want to leave tech, I want to have the option of doing something with plants. To make that possible I need to put myself out there. I need to grow my gardening skills, yes, but I also need to show people my gardening skills.

This post is part of that effort, and I've also been trying to increase my following on facebook via my page Evan's California Garden. I honestly don't know where any of this is going, but I'm having fun with it and I hope to get better at it.