Explore.Dream.Discover.: Part One: Tilling the Garden.

I have always dreamt about having a huge garden. An area that provides for myself and my family. Bountiful enough to allow extras to be canned to last the entire winter and spring. Yes, I did read Little House on the Prairie books when I was younger, and loved them. When you grow things yourself, or heck, even do anything yourself, there is a HUGE sense of accomplishment. This garden has been just that. I grew up living in an apartment. I have never had a yard to call my own until we moved to our current house a little under three years ago. I never knew what mowing the grass was like, I never ran a snow blower before, and I definitely wasn't able to dig up the yard. This all changed. I craved a huge garden, why start small? Go big or go home. With plenty of space in our backyard, my dad and I tilled up the yard (yes, even I took a turn at tilling) and last summer was, dare I say, a perfect first gardening experience.

The garden has been everything I had hoped. I swear the green thumb runs in my family. I am so thankful for that. Passed down from my grandpa and his huge garden up north. I always was envious of the garden my grandparents had. Surrounded with high fencing and an old door as an entrance - deer and raccoons stayed out. Providing a huge mecca of food inside. Apple trees still adorn the outside of the garden. Asparagus still grows wildly each year. I remember seeing screens of nuts drying in the screen house from the hazelnut bushes in the yard. Huge tiger lilies and lily of the valley lined the corner of the house. Eating canned bread and butter pickles was commonplace. In fact, my mom told me Grandpa just opened a canned bread and butter pickle with the date of 1999 from their cellar. Whoa.

There is something about pulling weeds on a hot day, sweat dripping profusely that is really satisfying. I can't quite put my finger on it. Gardening is a great workout and creates an outcome of produce and a pretty presentation. Gardening is an art form. So many ways to plan a garden. Placement of certain veggies that will get along such as aperimeter of onions to keep certain pests away. It's an art and a science. I love it. I crave it. And I can't wait to decide what to plant this year. For all that I planted last year, see this post.

Part One: Tilling the Garden.