When I was young my grandfather farmed for a living and started the farmers’ market in Boone, NC. While I was able to help my grandparents in the garden during the summer and sell produce on the weekends, I was not old enough to glean the knowledge and skills of planting a garden before my grandfather passed away. The Build-It-Up program has given us the opportunity to learn these skills as a family, allowing us to spend valuable time together while becoming more self-sufficient and rediscovering a link to the past.
It is rewarding to work together and use techniques we learned to plan, plant, tend and harvest our first garden. It was magical to see and hear our young son talking to the plants, “Rise little plants, rise! Rise beans, rise peas, rise little edamame, rise corn, go down with your roots beets! Grow little peppers, grow!” And then to see it come to fruition, being able to use our bounty to prepare healthy meals and to share with family and friends is truly a blessing.
We are looking forward to harvesting our fall crops, laying our garden to rest and beginning anew in the Spring.
