My very first garden was in Ft. Lee, Virginia. It consisted of a 2x7 ft. long plot of nasturtiams and cucumbers, why I have not idea, probubly someone told me they were easy. Well after they grew, I was hooked! When we moved to GA we lived in a very small rental house that I wasn't allowed to plant anything in the ground. I was so bummed. My wonderful sister went out and bought me pots and seeds and helped me plant a beautiful pot garden with tomatoes, cucumbers, and flowers. I was back in school at the time, to expand my herbalist knowledge and it was perfect for a busy mom in school. SO then we bought our fixer-upper and I was pregnant with our fourth child and that put my garden plans on hold for yet another year, but finally, we were able to put in a garden "for real", or kinda anyway. We put up long row boxes,5 boxes 1x20ft. and planted squash, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, okra, and cantalopes. We had so much it took over the yard! Oh how happy I was!
The next year we expanded and put in a couple of small gardens for herbs, both culinary and medicinal. Oh the joy, I was growing my two favorite things. I would wonder for hours among the plants and revel in the fact that they were mine. My herbalism went to a whole new level, as I was not only making medicine, but growing it and learning about it first hand by observing the plants in their element. But I am never ready to settle, so the next year I had even bigger plans. But my husband was sent to Iraq and I thought my plans were on hold. I had just had a ton (or 3) delivered to the house, and I had no idea how I was going to move it all! But God is good, he sent some good freinds over to help. We moved it all and I was able to add another vegitable garden to the mix. Now I could grow eggplant, some berries, and more tomatoes! When my husband got home, we added a new garden, and since the year before we had finally had enough rain to get the ground workable, we decided to get a tiller and try our hand at real dirt farming (small scale). We plotted a garden of 30x40 ft proportions and had manure haled in to make it rich. It was so beautiful, I could hardly believe it, my dreams were finally comming to fruition. I was a gardener.
We also put in an orchard and some other fruit bearing plants as edible landscaping.
So this year, we have expanded once more. ( and here I thought I was content). Our neighbor asked us if we would like to use his land to put in a couple of gardens, he has 1 acre. So we did! So far we have planted potatoes and have plans for feed crops for both our chickens and ourselves.
God has blessed us so much in our lives. "Never knock humble beginnings" someone once told me. Now I understand....Here are some pictures of our gardens this year.
We started today, April 10. Only the beginning....
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