If you had asked me at this time last year how I felt about gardening I would have said, “ Ah I’m not a big fan.” Although we have been “gardening’ for years, we never were quite gardeners. Sure we would take a trip to the store, buy plants, throw them in the garden, and water them when our kids decided to play in the water hose-but we never seemed to have the best luck or food (I’m sure you are just as surprised as I was, right?) But one day in January I got an email about this awesome program that helped you learn how to garden and how to be successful at gardening! I casually mentioned it to a coworker about how that email had piqued my interest and how nice it would be to start growing our own food and preserving it too. Unbeknownst to me, this coworker of mine had actually participated in that very same program I told her about-SO between my curiosity and the first-hand knowledge from my co-worker, we decided to apply!
Fast forward a few months to our first class. 90 minutes and 3 pages worth of notes later my mind was blown. Tilling, planting, planning (oh my!) Who knew there were so many things we could have been doing differently this whole time? We learned all about spacing, companion planting, and pest management. And when the time came we had (almost) a full garden of delicious veggies! This program taught us the importance of intentionality. These days our gardening looks much different. Our days are filled with our youngest son picking tomatoes off the vine. Our middle son in the kitchen frying up okra or cutting up vegetables from the garden for his salad with his dad. Our oldest cramming cucumbers in jars so he can make pickles. We are so thankful for this program for not only teaching us how to grow more food but also for instilling a love of gardening in our kids and helping us find something to bring us all together.
I think it’s safe to say more than just vegetables grew this season at our home.
