We joined Build it Up as first year gardeners this past March. Last fall, we moved onto a small-scale urban farm that historically grew an impressive variety of particularly beautiful produce. We were left with a mental map and some photos to reference from Zillow of how this place functioned as a full-on farm. When we first started the program, all our gardening knowledge had come from growing, but, realistically, slowly killing some veg and herbs in pots and a lot of hours spent scouring through gardening books at the library. We quickly realized how much we didn’t know about gardening. When we first signed up to write this blog, I chose one of the latest days possible out of fear we wouldn’t have learned “enough” at any point this year to warrant sharing with the gardening community.
We didn’t know yet what we wanted this space to be for us moving forward, but we figured we needed to go all in this growing season; if for nothing else but to not waste the years of work the farmers who lived here before us spent cultivating a half acre of REALLY healthy soil in this special place, or have to spend way too much time dragging around a thrifted push-mower over a yard filled with really healthy weeds.
The timing to join Build It Up was really serendipitous. We had just built a greenhouse the cheap way and ordered seeds the expensive way in time for our first Build it Up workshop. Build It Up provided the perfect opportunity to learn in real life, alongside real folks who were also learning as they grew. We loved hearing the stories of each household we met with through those workshops. From the backyard gardener, to the influencer-level homesteader, to the second year participants eager to share what they had learned so far, it was so special to hear each person’s relationship to the food they were growing and how things were going this season.
The sequencing of BIU’s workshops unrolled in a helpful way, specifically when it came to the two workshops on Pests & Diseases. Those have been immensely helpful and we contact the folks who led those workshops almost weekly for a “HELP! What’s this bug/disease? How do we fix it ASAP?” style check-in. Each workshop helped us recognize the importance of the season and what you can do with it. Because, gardening this way, time has flown.
A marking point in this growing season happened midway through summer, when we hosted ARC&D and Grow Appalachia here for a farm tour. This is when our intention with this space really firmed up. It was such a privilege to show them around and thank them in person for the seedlings they gave us that were thriving. It was an honor to discuss where these seedlings would go once they started to produce. The biggest challenge of growing in a space that is capable of growing so much is that it is really hard to know how many seeds will turn into WAY TOO MUCH food for household use. That particular week, we learned a hard lesson in the importance of succession planting spring produce. We were about to harvest 100 pounds of radishes and we were a quick outreach away from connecting with Second Harvest Food Bank to discover they will accept a LOT of produce as donation. This knowledge was a lifesaver over the summer as we continued to not take our own advice and succession plant summer crops. We’re applying this knowledge this fall, we swear!
We got to chat about what we hope for this space we’re calling home in the future. Baking bread out of the guest “breadroom,” building some picnic tables and hosting donation-based community pizza nights here on the farm, and building a food pantry situation for the neighbors who walk by that we haven’t already loaded up with goodies we have an excess of. Maybe we should have seen it coming, but our garden quickly went from “things we wanted to grow for personal use,” to “there is no way one single family could possibly eat this much food, what do we do?” From the folks at ARC&D, we learned about restaurants in the area that prioritize using fresh, local ingredients and for the first time, felt like we had produce worth reaching out about to start providing. They shared about farmers markets in the area that focus on locally grown produce and we’ve gotten to go from shoppers to vendors at these markets in what feels like a matter of minutes. It’s been a lovely full-circle welcoming to this community, and we owe it in large part to the resources provided by Build it Up.
Perhaps the biggest thing we have learned throughout this growing season is to trust the growing process. That despite how frail some seedlings look when they grow in the ground, if you provide them with quality compost, fertilizer, and some, but not TOO much, attention, plants will be happy to be alive and they will try their hardest to keep living despite however much you feel like you have to learn at the point you planted them. Here’s to a new season of growth and learning as much as we can from each season!
~Amy Wincek & Zane Abplanlap
