Starting up Gratitude Ranch and a Shout out to SFG

     Gardening… Ahh yes. The fragrance of the fresh dew upon the morning grass, the thankful earth after a much needed shower, soft grass between your happy toes, the deep feeling of satisfaction during the summer harvests, and yes- the money saved on grocery bills.

     I love gardening. It was not something I grew up doing. But as many of you will well know, I love reading. If I can do enough research on something- I can do it!

I had only been really gardening for a handful of years now, and all my indoor plants failed to
thrive. Why? Likely because they were not something I could eat! So, maybe I was less attentive than I could have been. As we moved into our new house over a year ago we set about to get our raised beds set up.

Why use raised beds when you have over 2 acres of land? 

     Ease my good friends, ease and yields. As we had seen the state of the house we purchased (a painful lesson for another blog, another day) we knew well not to trust the integrity of the soil. Using a raised bed has many benefits.

•  Ease of weeding
• High Yields in smaller areas
• Continuous Growing
• Ease of set up- no need to yank out sod
• Consistent and easy enough to learn even for novice gardeners
• Neat and tidy appearance- not as overwhelming
• Easy to utilize companion planting
• Water conservation
• Helps avoid soil contaminants

      As you can see there were numerous reasons. Also- I didn’t want to commit to managing a HUGE area. Think of all that watering and weeding! Oi! I had great success with my SFG at the old rental house and knew they could still be useful here.

     I had a lot of fun last year in our gardens, walking around barefoot, with the mild sun on my shoulders, teaching our daughter about where her food comes from and how good fresh tastes. I utilize almost solely organic methods, especially as my daughter is apt to eat anything in the garden. If I wasn’t watching her carefully she wouldn’t even pick off a leaf, she’d just bend over and take a huge bite out! She was especially fond of doing that to our cabbage or kale leaves.

     Actually we had so much extra food that we started selling a little here and there to coworkers. It was so much fun having them ask me:

“Do you have any more of that zesty salad mix”?

“Are the next batch of kohlrabi ready”?

“How many cucumbers can I get this week”?

     Really makes you content to share the labor of your hands with those who really appreciate and taste the difference that fresh and organic has to offer.

     To anyone who hasn’t yet dove into the joy of gardening, have no fear! If I can do it, you can do with a little luck, and reading. I strongly suggest you keep a journal- which can be as simple or complicated as you want. This is a great tool to help you understand what worked/didn’t, how much did you spend, and how much did you harvest. Great for helping you trouble shoot and weigh the pros and cons of gardening.

     I also really do highly recommend Mel Bartholomew’s book “All New Square Foot Gardening, Second Edition: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More In Less Space”, that is what got me started on what I feel was the right foot. It isn’t the only book I’d keep in my collection, but a great starting reference guide.

     Remember, even if you don’t have a yard- if you have a deck, and a pot, then you can garden! You would be Amazed at the assortment of plants you can grow in a container! A raised bed is just a large “container” after all. I’ve successfully grown apples, lilacs, squash, tomatoes, herbs and salads in a regular pot.

So what’s keeping you from getting your hands dirty? Dive in!