Turning a Black Thumb Green

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10866074_10101287878084186_1684473340393569255_o Isn’t it funny how the one thing you swear you will never do, you end up doing one day and loving it?  I feel like that is pretty much the story of my life in so many ways.

I used to be an avid plant killer.

Not intentionally, of course.  I never wished death upon my green leafed friends, it just sort of happened.  I’d water it.  Death by drowning. I’d trim up the dead leaves.  Immediate doom.  I’d place it in the sun.  Murder by way of torching.  I finally resigned myself to never owning a plant and staying as far away from gardening as possible.

Then I met my husband.  A man who grew up in a family where gardening was not only enjoyed but was a way to create your own food supply (my initial thought was “umm, is that not what Kroger is for?”)

So I found myself in a conundrum.  Would the man of my dreams soon leave me because plants wilted in my presence?  Was there a way to constantly replace the plants I killed off with new ones without him knowing?  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Luckily, it didn’t come to that.  I married a patient man who taught me the tricks and trades of gardening and I soon found myself wearing gardening gloves on the weekends and enjoying it!  Not only that, but things were living.  Like not just living, but actually producing an edible harvest.  Can we say amazing?!

Since having kids, our gardening has taken on a more purposeful meaning.  I knew I wanted to give my children the best nutrition from the start (goodness knows I had to do something to balance out all of the junk food they get from grandparents) and so gardening seemed the most logical and cost efficient way to accomplish this.

11082312_10101287864765876_3302490175236350417_oFresh fruit and vegetables all summer for a fraction of the cost?  Yes, please.  Being part of the process from start to finish that produces the food that goes into my babies sweet mouths?  Sign me up.

Now, I did get a little ambitious in the beginning.  I got all big headed and thought “well, now that I can keep plants alive, why don’t I just grow them from seed?”  I had a miniature green house going on throughout my house with seedlings growing in plastic cups on tv stands by windows during the early spring months (it looked like I had some sort of illegal operation going on-rest assured, I did not.)  This effort didn’t quite produce the bounty I was looking for, so we ended up heading to Andy’s Garden anyway to pick up some quality starts.

I recommend going the Andy’s route vs. the I-can-do-it-myself route.

I love that our summer nights are now spent planting, weeding and picking the fruits of our effort.  Alright, if I am being honest, I actually really hate the weeding part. I love that my son looks forward to helping us tend to the garden and picking fruit off the plants and eating it right there (except when he picks the strawberry that I really wanted).  I now view the months of May-September in terms of what fruits and vegetables will be ready and when we will need to can them and make baby food out of them (that’s a whole other post).

GEDSC DIGITAL CAMERAI mean, look at these beauties that I grew!

From a girl who used to think I’d be forced to live in the desert (you can’t kill a cactus, right?) to a mom who is now living off the land, so to speak, take it from me-you can do this too.  All it takes is a little planning, planting and picking.  Easy enough.  If you feel a little overwhelmed at the thought of growing your own food, start small.  No one said you had to grow a 20′ by 30′ garden right from the start (I know this because my engineer husband graphs out our garden on graph paper.)  Plant a few green beans-they grow great around here-in your backyard and if you manage to get at least one meal out of them, consider yourself a master gardener and attempt more crops next year.

Do you currently have a garden?  If so, I’d love to hear your tips and tricks (especially on making weeding go faster!!)

 

 

 

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Megan Gariety
I am the mother to two of the most well behaved children in the history of children. They listen the first time around, always clean up their messes and sleep peacefully through the night. I greet my husband at the door each night looking like a million bucks with a dinner on the table that even Martha Stewart would envy. Lies. All of it. I am blessed to be a mother to two red haired (in looks and personality) boys who are so full of energy and life you can't help but to smile. They are not known to listen the first time, sleep through the night or clean up after themselves, but they do give the worlds best kisses, so it pretty much evens out. I do greet my husband at the door each night, but usually in sweats and with a baby in hand to give to him so I can run back to the stove before dinner burns. Aside from running a non-perfect household, I also work at home sharing my Plexus health and wellness business. My faith is important to me and guides my decision making in life (minus the time I had terrible bangs in middle school-there is no way that was a God thing.) My husband proposed to me by golden ticket inside of a Willy Wonka bar and that pretty much sums up our entire relationship. My favorite phrase is "it will change your life" but it is usually only true 10% of the time. My favorite things about motherhood: taught me what unconditional love really means and finally having an excuse to wear sweats every day!

4 COMMENTS

  1. You will know what to add to achieve the right acidity
    and drainage for the plants you are planning to use. Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from an area.

    The University of Minnesota Turfgrass Management is suggesting we forgo dethatching completely.

  2. Suggestions on organic fertilizer and pesticides? We’re great at getting the garden started but squash vine borer is a big killer for us. 🙁

  3. Hmm, we don’t. We never use fertilizer or pesticides. We do a lot of composting (probably not how you are supposed to-we just dump stuff in a pile in the garden and then till it in) but that is really all we do!

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