Here We Go!

I've been gardening for 15 years now. It kind of snuck up on me the other day that I'm a for real gardener. There are not many other things that I've done for so many years in a row. I started with a garden that was left from former tenants in a rental house before I was married. Each year, I got more involved in the farmers market & asked a lot of questions from all of the farmers that had become friends. I tried new things every year. I had lots of successes -- enough to encourage me to keep at it. Almost 3 years ago, my family & I moved to a new home in a new town. The people who we bought our home from had quite a garden going & so many fruit trees & edibles worked into the landscaping. The front yard itself is a big fenced garden bed, with a side garden that has hoops for extended season gardening & lots of beautiful flower beds & shrubs. It's amazing how small the yard is & how packed full of life it is.

Knowing I would have to step up my gardening game at this new home with such large gardens, I began doing more research than ever before. I started seeds indoors for the first time in my life. I had always just waited until about Mother's Day to put seeds in the ground. I also took extra time to plan the vegetables & now this year I'm focusing on companion planting instead of gardening in rows. I'm putting as many flowers that attract bees in all of the gardens as well, tucked right in with the vegetables & herbs.

This idea to begin a small hobby farm came from having to thin out plants because they were getting so thick that they didn't seem to be blooming as well & they just seemed crowded & weren't producing enough blooms. At first, I spent a lot of time moving the plants that I had divided & thinned out to other areas in the yard. I also spent a lot of time trying not to waste any of the plants that I had divided. It would pain me to have to compost some that I just didn't have anywhere else to put. In doing all of this, I learned a lot about transplanting all sorts of plants, flowers, vegetables & flowers. I've grown more confident in my gardening skills as I try out new things that seem a bit trickier than most vegetables -- like asparagus, artichokes, every herb & medicinal plant I can get my hands on.

This year, I felt bolt of inspiration to share the excess with people that live in my neighborhood & go to the Montessori/homeschool hybrid school across the street. I've set out a table with a tablecloth & a bowl full of parsley bundles & sage bundles. Over this Memorial Day weekend, I started some sedum & succulent starts in little pots to sell. As I'm gardening & seeing things that are growing rapidly & maybe growing in a spot where they won't be able to get large enough -- I'm pulling them out delicately & putting them in little pots to sell. I'm going to give them a couple of weeks to get settled to assure that the transplanting has been successful. And then...I'm going to start putting out my fresh herb bundles, flowers, plant starts, small shrubs, etc. that I run across as I'm gardening & weeding all of the garden beds in my front & back yards.

I'm starting this blog to share my process & my journey to becoming a small urban/hobby farm for profit. I'll be sharing tips for planting & transplanting vegetables, fruits, plants, plus when & how to prune all sorts of trees & shrubs. I've been growing food organically from day one way back so many years ago. I have lots of pest control recipes & diy tips to share with you all. I am just so excited to be on this path & making it a reality. I will also keep you up to date on my grant proposals & learning how to work with all of the city regulations for selling safe food. Of course, I will always be open to questions & look forward to interacting with other gardeners -- all the way from beginners to master gardeners. My goal is to always be learning more & doing better -- in gardening & in all other areas of life. Thank you for checking out my blog & I hope to see you around!