Update your DDPs for the new cycle.

Question Line Duo Library, Environment & Gardens, Soil-less Gardens

UPDATE: September 2025

Review and Update Your
Garden and Soil-less Garden
DDPs for the New Year

The Autumn Equinox marks the beginning of a new year in nature's cycle — a perfect time to review the goals you've set and update them if needed.

If you're working with nature in your garden or for any endeavor, project or goal, here is a suggestion from Jeannette:

Something I do each year around the fall equinox is pull out all of my DDPs — for my garden and soil-less garden projects — and review each one. Is this still my goal? Is it up-to-date? Does anything need to be adjusted or amended? Is the project completed and does it need to be closed? I keep a copy of all of my DDPs in one folder on my personal computer. I also keep separate notebooks and files for each project and for my gardens, but having all of my current DDPs in one place has made life easier.

DDP: This is the "Direction, Definition and Purpose" of your garden or soil-less garden. Your goal or intent. Follow the links at the end of this article to learn more and begin your first garden or soil-less garden with your nature partner

Start the New Year with Updated DDPs
If any of your DDPs need updating!

Chances are, some goals were thrown to the wind and DDPs have changed this year. If not your DDPs, then do your Intents Lists need a reset?

This is a good time to reflect, evaluate what matters most or whether your priorities have changed, and decide if you need to adjust, release or redefine your goals for your garden(s) and your soil-less garden(s).

If you do wish to change your DDP, you will need to inform your nature partner. And if you need to put some projects on hold, it's okay. Just let your partner know that's what you're doing. When you are ready to re-engage an "on hold" project, take another look at your DDP before you jump back in.

➥ To Amend Your Garden DDP

Gut Gardeners: If you would like to amend your DDP, write that first. Then hit the start button, tell nature you'd like to change your garden DDP and re-read the statements in The Perelandra Garden Workbook on page 22, Step 2, inserting your new DDP.

2.0 Gardeners: If you'd like to amend your DDP, do that in writing first, for clarity. Then hit the start button and tell nature you'd like to continue your partnership and co-creative gardening, but you'd like to amend your DDP. In the Garden Workbook, on page 72, Step 2, start with: "I want the following DDP to be the focus of the partnership . . . " In Step 3, ask, "Is my new DDP activated?" and continue through step 5.

➥ To Amend Your Soil-less Garden DDP

It's simpler than you may think. See "Amending a DDP" on page 13 of your Perelandra Soil-less Garden Companion.

And for activating and deactivating Intents Lists, see pp. 81-83

About Writing DDPs

Before you review your garden and project DDPs, we recommend you read Chapter 1 of the Soil-less Garden Companion. It answers darn near every question we're asked on the Question Line about setting up and working with soil-less gardens.

Based on our Question Line experience, soil-only gardeners will appreciate this information as well. In just 8 pages Machaelle Wright has packed insight after insight, such as:

When I listen to "soil-less gardeners" talking about their DDPs, I find that the most common mistake they make is writing over-wordy, over-long DDPs. In their zeal to be precise, they put together DDPs that go on for pages. (I've actually seen DDPs that go on for pages.) For some, this is just a mistake in their understanding of how the words "succinct" and "precise" apply to a DDP. They translate those two words to mean "all-inclusive" and "exact in details," which then gets translated into pages and pages describing the all-inclusive, detailed DDP. For others, a lengthy DDP is their way of maintaining full control over their project and inserting the needed manipulative devices for "controlling" their coning partners. Then there are the people who just have a personal aversion to the notion of simplicity and feel a simple DDP won't give their partners enough information or won't work. With these overly wordy DDPs, you don't have a real soil-less garden. You have a fake soil-less garden that only appears to be co-creative.

Keep your DDP simple. Don't overthink. State your goal clearly, as you see it right now. If you change, or your goals change, you can adjust your DDP.

Read the full excerpt here.

Did we get you thinking about setting goals and partnering with nature for success?