This has been my very first try at gardening through the Build it Up program. I can firmly say that the amount of gardening knowledge I have gained has been invaluable and the perfect jump start to my gardening path. I wouldn’t know where to start on what I have learned since the start. Each class session and the binder have been a tremendous help in allowing me to grasp the basics as quick as I did. The biggest catalysts in the success of my garden has been the health of my soil, garden planning, understanding the plants & seeds, how/when to plant, disease & pest management, and how to harvest.
I have always wanted to build a sustainable garden for my family. We have multiple food allergies that have propelled us into eating healthy, plant-forward and organic foods. This way of eating is extremely expensive so having a garden has allowed us to save exponentially. I also wanted my kids (ages 10 & 7) to experience hands-on learning with gardening. They have thoroughly enjoyed getting their hands dirty and learning more about what we are growing and how to prepare them in the kitchen. They also attended one of the Build it Up cooking classes, giving them even more exposure to the importance of healthy eating.
One of the biggest challenges we have had with our garden is the soil. Our soil is mostly red clay, but think the most compact and hard red clay there is! It was super strenuous to dig holes for planting and we believe a lot of our vegetables did not grow to the maximize size due to the compact soil. We have realized that going forward our gardening will benefit greatly by utilizing raised beds instead. This has definitely been our best lesson learned. We also battled weeds constantly due to this being our first year of tilling our yard space and not using a high enough grade tarp to fully keep the grass/weeds killed.
Despite these couple setbacks, we definitely experienced more successes then we ever expected in our first year of gardening. This truly would not have been the case without partaking in the Build it Up program. I really enjoyed the planning and execution of our garden. I also loved figuring out what my family most wanted to grow, mapping out the best outline for our garden and then executing it. When you start to get everything planted and see your plan come to life, it is so gratifying. My favorite part of gardening has been nurturing what was planted and watching it all come to life. It is so empowering to see the fruits of your labor; you almost cannot put it into words. My favorite thing to grow is probably the tomatoes. The plants grew exponentially, which was super fun to watch how big they would get, and they produced so much. We are still enjoying our tomatoes almost every day. They have been the best tasting tomatoes we have ever had!
My family and I are so thankful for the program and the jump-start to our gardening career it has provided. Being able to be a more self-sufficient home and learn a little hard work and its fruits has been such an invaluable tool for our children. Not to mention, tasting some of the most flavorful foods has been the perfect reward to our garden labors.
~Sarah Blackburn
