How did You get Here!?

digitS'

Garden Master
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. . . to your garden? What guided you in way you garden?

Was there a book, a mentor . . ?

Was it randomly, by trial & error?

Steve
 

RidgebackRanch

Attractive To Bees
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What we grow is alot of trial and error with a little aquired knowledge mixed in. How we grow is based on using the natural resources available on our property. What that means is we use all the fallen leaves, horse and chicken manure. The main goal is to spend as little money as possible to acheive a productive garden with plenty to share.

So far it is working pretty well, but i do expect to be learning for as long as I can hold a shovel. Thank God because I would hate to think it would get boring!:)

I've always been a gardener a heart, coming from farming families, and as my wife can confirm I would rather be outside than inside no matter where I am or what the weather is doing.
She thinks I'm crazy and I know she is right ( as always). :gig
 

Kassaundra

Garden Addicted
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My Gma did garden, but not effectively. She moved from Maine to Oklahoma, but refused to garden any different then the "Maine way".

I had played around most of my adult life planting one or two plants, occasionally even a whole small garden, but usually got overrun w/ weeds or pests.

The way I garden now is mostly through research borrowing from other people's techniques and adding a few of my own twists and experiments. Linda Woodrow's book on Mandella Gardening w/ chicken tractors was my main insipration point.
 

vfem

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Was so proud of my grandparents, I wanted to follow in their footsteps...

Sadly, my grandmother had been gone a long time and I couldn't ask her advice. My grandfather gave me his books, and my grandmother's cookbooks and wished me luck.

Now its just reading on my own, and waiting to fail to succeed. I never give up though, and that is definitely following my grandparents' footsteps! :D
 

retiredwith4acres

Garden Ornament
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Living in a rural Tennessee county and poor as a child, that is the only way we had food to eat. My grandmother was a widow at age 20 and left with 2 babies. She survived by raising the food they ate and sold/bartered chicken eggs to get what she couldn't grow. SO, it is in my blood and I have done it a lot of my life. I remember a lot of what she did and my mother continually passes along her methods now. I didn't have a lot of garden several years but flowers has always been in my yard. Some years just tomatoes, some years raised beds with more veggies, and a few years I raised no vegetables. Since I retired 4 years ago, I have had a garden.

The last two years we have had a garden with my mother, she lives next door since we moved here. This year she has done most of the work because I wasn't filled with a lot of energy because of insomnia. It is bad when your 81 year old mother can outwork you. lol She has even taken on a full time job because when we sold a small fast food business in July, she was bored. My big regret is not learning about curing meats when we were growing our own pork and beef. My mother cures the best country hams! We just don't want to take on animals right now, other than chickens.

As a science teacher, I always used growing plants whenever possible in my class. My dream was to have a greenhouse at school to teach the children about gardening, but that never happened.

I am still learning about gardening, from books, internet, my mother, and others. I hope I never quit learning. I hope I am always trying to grow something new.
 

pebbles

Chillin' In The Garden
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Three years ago, with the way things looked like they were going-economically, nationally, etc...I thought I better get chickens and learn how to grow food. I bought Holly Deyo's e-book "Garden Gold" and the rest is history. I am in NW Arizona so I figured raised beds were the best way to go. Three years later my garden is doing great. I was never a plant growing person. My DH watered the indoor plants or they would die. Miracles still happen. I love my garden. I just harvested sweet potatoes today-wow that was so much fun-first time I ever tried sweet potatoes. I havested about 20 good sized sweet potatoes. At least I know we will never starve :)
 

momofdrew

Deeply Rooted
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My Dad had me gardening when I was about 4 or 5 with merrigolds and morning glories that I had to take care of...well I was hooked been doing it for over 60 years now...and I still love it and hope I have passed that love on to newer generations...
 

M.sue

Chillin' In The Garden
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From spending most of my childhood on my grandparents farm. My parents helped out on the farm so of course whenever they went we went which was ALL THE TIME. When I was too small to help in the garden or fields I'd stay at the house with my grandmother. Grandma would always have me help her weed her rock garden or flowerbeds by the house....something she figured I could do. To this day I love the feel of dirt/soil in my bare hands....I can't stand to garden with gloves on.
 
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