The Academic Gardener

 I am a Southern transplant to the Northeast living in USDA Zone 6. It has been a few years since my move and I really like the change, especially having all four seasons. The winters have been far from what I grew up experiencing with snowfall that can last from October through April. The growing season is obviously much more delayed as a result.

Gardening was not something I was particularly interested in although many of my family and people in the community grew their own food and raised livestock. Beans, tomatoes, okra, collards, mustards, peas, cucumbers, and corn were staples you could find in backyard gardens everywhere. Being active in 4-H and FFA provided even more opportunities to be around agriculture.

In early adulthood the closest I came to having a garden was planting shrubs to form a privacy hedge when I purchased my first home. The row of shrubs grew together quite well and blocked my view into the neighbor’s backyard within a year or two. My other attempt at growing was a small container garden comprised of four terracotta pots with pepper plants in them. They were all eaten by something when I was away at a conference. I returned home to find four leafless stalks growing from each pot, and that was the end of that!

 About two years ago I was sitting around trying to think of a good hobby to start. Something that would get me outside and provide a way to stay active. I wanted it to be something I could enjoy doing for a long time without becoming bored. After a while, the idea of starting a garden hit me. It was a great fit for the two things I wanted in a hobby.

To say that gardening has reconnected me with my rural upbringing would be an understatement. It has also given me a way to remember and connect with family and people I learned things about growing from that have passed on over the years.  Gardening has provided me with a way to take things I learned from them and apply or contrast those methods with trends today.

My garden is a lab where I learn new things about plants and try new ways to make them grow. I invite everyone who visits my blog to come along for the ride!

See you soon, 

OG