My blog exists to help gardeners of all experience levels with growing the best produce possible. Growing your own food is a skill that started going by the wayside with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. It became easier to buy our fresh produce and dry goods from a local store than take the time to work the ground and raise our own. People started moving into cities & great industries sprang up to make living in larger populous more convenient. Restaurants became more and more prolific and the days of home grown, home made food started to wane. With each new convenience came health problems from stress, poor eating habits and lack of physical activity. Instead of digging a garden, sowing seed, turning compost piles and learning how to prepare and store the precious food we grow we’ve had to resort to overpriced, chemically laden commercially grown or produced foods and hours at the gym or trying to find time to exercise to work off all the pounds we’ve put on from these habits. Being disconnected from our food sources reduces our appreciation for how they are grown, impedes our ability to improve what we feed our families even though we are concerned.
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Teach gardeners of all levels to grow the best produce ever – in raised bed gardens
- In the dirt there lies secret treasures. I’m here to help you unearth them and turn them into edible gold. Whether you live in an apartment or in a house with a big yard or a yurt in the forest you should have the pleasure of growing the best food you can in your circumstances. My preferred method of gardening is in raised beds. The soil around my home is hard, unforgiving clay. Growing in raised beds gives me the freedom to amend the soil for the needs of my plants without having to worry about the rock hard clay underneath.
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Provide easy to follow guides and lessons to make gardening fun
- Gardening is not without its problems and mysteries. This should not deter you from trying. It is a learning experience that can be as exciting and fascinating as it is productive. Any gardener with some experience under their gloves (and dirt under their nails) will tell you that every season will not be a glowing success. No matter how many years you have been gardening there is still more to learn, new methods to try, and interesting new skills to master. I’m here to help break them down for you in the easiest to understand manner
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Recommend the best resources for vegetable gardening advice.
- I wish I could say I am the best and only resource to improve your garden knowledge, but that would be extremely narcissistic and egotistical. Frankly, that’s not me. There are so many gardeners out there who have written books, made YouTube channels and written blogs like this one who have different and more varied experiences. Other growing zones and gardening styles have their own nuances. My hope is that through this blog I will help guide you to the best people to give you the best advice for your needs and interests.
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Help vegetable gardeners to understand their climate and growing zone
- Knowing what will grow best in your area you need first to understand your growing zone. Here in zone 6 I have a limited window of direct sowing and harvesting without the need for frost and freeze protection. Some places in the South are too hot to grow certain crops and conversely in the North it’s too cold to grow long, warm season crops without cold frames or a greenhouse. Let me help you understand that.
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Write a weekly blog post to help vegetable gardeners make progress in their production journey.
- Now this is a promise that is as much a motivation for me as it is a benefit to you. Sometimes it’s hard to be inspired to write especially when you are tired from a long day of housework, garden tending or working in the office. As gardeners we can’t let a week pass without giving attention to our plot even if it’s just a little pot and I want to make sure your proverbial garden of knowledge is well cultivated. Even in climates where we have cold, freezing, snow covered winters (like mine) there are still garden tasks to do and prepare for no matter the weather.
Conclusion
By no means am I a live-off-the-land, raise-your-own-meat, don’t-go-to-the-store kind of gal, but I hope I’ll be a little more prepared if ever I have to be her. For years I tried to be interested in flower gardening, but the lack of lasting results from the pursuit left me feeling empty. The plants were pretty and environmentally useful and yet with my limited resources I wanted to do more for my family with my pastime. I want to be eco-conscious, frugal, health-focused and active without draining my family’s pocket book. My goal is to teach you how to enjoy planting, cultivating, amending, composting and finally harvesting and preserving the fruits of your labor for you and your family and friends to enjoy.
The benefit of this pursuit aside from being able to nourish your family with delicious and clean food is that it adds beauty to your surroundings and can help reduce stress. All of us have an inborn desire to nurture something – a child, a pet, a friend, or a plant. Throwing yourself into gardening will nurture your soul, edify your mind, reduce your stress and feed your family something you can be immensely proud of no matter how big or small.