This April marks three years in our new home – the first we ever purchased – and also the third year we’ve planted a garden on the property.
When we were renters, planting a garden of any sort seemed to be the kiss of death. Three times we established a food garden or a flower garden and then were served with news of the rental selling and our need to vacate.
I remember smiling with great delight when we planted our first garden at our new home in April 2013. I may have even shed a little happy tear while planting those first peas, carrots and sunflowers.
I’ve got three years of gardening at the new homestead now under my belt and each year I learn a little more and add a few things.
Just last weekend I managed to get peas, lettuce, kale, cabbage, parsnips, onions, garlic, beets, tomatoes and potatoes planted in our raised garden bed, with much pride.
In a couple of months I’ll be able to start harvesting from our food garden and feeding my family with the bounty. Last year I made my first meal completely from our garden – borscht – and it was an amazing feeling.
I’ve come a long way from my childhood, where we always had a yard but never had a food garden. My mother was fond of flowers but the thought of growing a garden to eat from never occurred to her. That’s what supermarkets were for.
I grew up in Calgary where, granted, the growing season isn’t as long or as bountiful, but backyard gardens were definitely possible. However, the urban area I lived in also came with a different mindset.
My mother wasn’t the anomaly. No one I grew up with had vegetable gardens at home. All of our parents relied on Safeway to nourish us and most of us grew up on boxed, canned or otherwise packaged food.
It wasn’t until I moved to the Coast in 1999 that I was introduced to the world of gardening and the power packed within a tiny seed.
It seemed like second nature to most folks here on the Coast, but I had no clue.
Over the years tips from friends, work colleagues and even from my children, who have learned the benefits of gardening through grade school, set me on the right track.
Now I’m far from a gardening guru, but I’m figuring out what works and what doesn’t at my house – and no one’s going to sell it out from under me, so I’ve got time to make my garden not only functional but fabulous.
I’m thankful that my kids are growing up on the Coast where growing a garden is part of their curriculum, thanks in large part to a plot of land donated for a demonstration garden just steps from the school.
They won’t be like me – an adult who honestly didn’t know that individual peas were seeds that could be planted again – and that’s a good thing.
In this day and age, when the cost of a single head of cauliflower can balloon to over $5, it’s imperative they know how to feed themselves without relying on the grocery store.
Plus, it’s pretty cool.
