My gardens now.
I have an ornamental vegetable garden and several flower borders that I like to think of as my laboratories. I also have many, many containers scattered about, with varying degrees of success.
How I share my love of gardening with others?
I volunteer as a Master Gardener, doing community projects and talks. I also write about gardening, answer gardening questions and share my plants at plant swaps.
Who or what inspired me to garden.
I've been gardening most of my life. Deadheading the petunias seemed like a punishment as a child, but I always loved working in the vegetable garden and I have many wonderful memories of working in my family’s small vegetable garden with my father. Although he was brought up by immigrant Italians who used the tried and true organic techniques, because that was all they had, my dad was up for anything new and improved. It didn’t always work, but we learned a lot along the way.
How I learned to garden.
I learned by doing, but many generous people have guided me along the way. I lived in a city apartment for awhile, which made gardening a challenge, but one house plant lead to another and that lead to vegetables on the roof and when I could no longer sit all day long in an office with windows that didn’t open, I started looking for houses to rent north of the city and planning a small nursery business.
I enrolled in the local Master Gardener program and spent hours volunteering and learning. Eventually I found that I didn’t really like gardening for other people for a living. I started teaching and working at Cooperative Extension and finally writing about gardening. In the process, I’ve learned a lot. I am still learning and my own gardens are benefitting from all the wonderful advice (and plants) I’ve been given along the way. If only I’d thought of making gardening my vocation sooner!
Lessons learned
- I learned to start small and enjoy the process.
- Don't panic every time you see a bug or a spot on a leaf.
- I garden for my own pleasure and not to please anyone else.
- There are more plants than I could possibly fit into my gardens.
- I will buy those plants anyway.
