It all started last fall...
My boyfriend, daughter and I moved into our very first home in July of 2022, and as exciting as it was, it was equally exhausting. Between hundreds of trips to Lowe's and Home Depot, changing locks on all exterior doors (and getting all the keys to match...yikes), new faucets and ceiling fans, navigating frustrations with a (somewhat shady) moving company and the yard full of crabgrass, it seemed the projects were never-ending! But even with the daunting new task of homeownership, one project in particular nagged in the back of my head.
Two overgrown 4x4 garden beds called to me from the backyard, nagging at me with potential. So, of coarse, I ignored them. With so many things to be done in our new home, my dreams of growing food for my family would have to wait, right? Wrong! One October morning, Michael (my incredible boyfriend-don't tell him I said that) said to me, "I thought you were going to clean out those garden beds and start growing stuff out there. What are you waiting on?". My initial response in all its defensiveness, was that I would start in the spring, to which he replied "I think you can grow some stuff now, no use in waiting. The beds look awful and you said you were gonna grow food in them. I think you should just put something in there and see what happens."
And thus, I was (gently) shamed into jumpstarting my little growing patch. That jumpstart eventually turned into a full on sprint as I researched what could grow in cool weather, where to find these transplants for the garden, how to amend soil, what Growing Zone we live in, and I even installed a rain barrel! What a wonderful spiral those two 4x4 garden beds sent me into. Be forewarned, the rabbit hole is deep and frustrating at times, but also beautiful and rewarding.
These are just a few watered down accounts of events that I share to plant that seed (pun intended).
Toss those seeds in some dirt, buy that tomato plant you saw at the big box store. Start growing wherever you can, whatever you can, whenever you can. Just start growing.