Ellie’s Garden Tour

How long have you been gardening?

E: This is my second season gardening in the ground! My husband and a couple of our amazing neighbors built this garden in March and April of 2023 while I was 7 months pregnant!  However, I have been gardening in raised beds since 2012.

Gardening straight into the earth has been a very different experience from raised beds. It’s a lost art in many ways and we’ve had to rely heavily on our community of gardeners (neighbors and friends) to teach us the way. 

Who or what made you desire gardening?

E: It’s threefold really. The desire for table feasting; the desire for nutritionally dense foods that nourish our bodies; the desire for rich community fueled by garden and table conversations and friendship.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced with your first garden and how did you overcome it? 

E: Gardening wasn't allowed! I started my first raised bed at our apartment complex in Austin, Texas. My husband and I built it outside our first story apartment. Four months into it, the owner found out and made us take it down. 

What were some of your challenges this season? 

E: We're on a mission to find the sweetest carrot and I want to master blueberries because I've failed at them two seasons now! Being a student of only a handful of plants and vegetables has allowed me to learn what each plant in our garden really needs to be fruitful each year.

What are the greatest joys you find in gardening?

E: Wendell Berry said, "The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of it all...the healer, restorer, resurrector...without proper care for it we have no community." 

I enjoy cutting a piece of fresh fruit or veg off the vine and sharing it with someone. Our neighbors share equipment, supplies and harvest. We have gotten into the habit of setting our abundance at the end of the drive with signs for everyone to share. Harvesting carrots and seeing them come up out of the soil is satisfying too. Mostly, sharing garden delights with neighbors and friends/family.

How is your family involved or blessed by the garden?

E: The children are learning so much. They’re learning how to compost, how to trellis, how to eat veggies! They are learning how to care for things and water plants, keep things alive!

My husband Brett, calls the garden "a sanctuary”. It brings him peace and joy to look at it and stand in it and work with me in it.

For me, I love feeding my family food from the garden. Both my body and soul have been nourished by the garden this year but truly, it’s about community. I wouldn’t have a garden without our neighbors! When we planted our garden I hired a helper who was very knowledgeable and over the summer she has become a dear friend!

What factors impact your decisions on what to grow each season?

E: What we like to eat and what we can't find at grocery stores.

Has gardening been economical for your family? In what ways?

E: According to God's economy, yes! We are so filled up by this. Our garden has born fruit, brought us joy, the ability to share and feast on abundant produce. No matter how different we are, we can all talk about the garden.

The worlds economy, no! When you think about the cost of fencing, the equipment and tools, the fertilizers (I use organic fish fertilizers), the seeds or transplants, the various posts and wood frames for trellising, the hoses or water supply, the seed trays and grow lights for starters, it will be a few years before the plants really make a dent in supplementing our grocery bill. It is an investment that will take about six years to be self -sustaining and really productive!

What lessons are your garden teaching you this season?

E: Much humility can be learned out here. I walk around with dirt in my toes and under my nails and I feel grounded, gentle, and lowly. I’m also learning about surrender. I was about to cover the garden and then God brought me a helper, my new friend, Kiersten. 

How do you see yourself, family, or stage of life through the cultivation and growth of your garden?

E: I always thought my 20's were the weeding years and my 30's would be my planting years. But God is showing me how my 30's are years of amending the soil so that the flourishing we seek can come in full.

My husband and I learning how to make the soil rich, amending it with things it needs, and changing, pulling out, removing, what's not good for it. We're learning how to recalibrate to God's kingdom and reorder our priorities to his will. We've had to trust God through job loss, sicknesses, a new born baby, moving and we're learning how to have better rhythms, habits, disciplines, a vision and mission for our family so that flourishing and thriving can take place.

What is your favorite plant growing in your garden this season?

E: Watermelon because my boys love them and have taken to caring and tending them. Blackberries because our one year old eats them ravenously. My personal favorite is the Holy Basil because of its health benefits. I each a handful a day but will dry the leaves in the winter for tea.

Are you cultivating a plant that has a story or meaning behind it? 

E: No, but much of the methodology we use in our garden has a story or history behind it.

We are trying to establish a permaculture garden; a garden that is self-sustaining and holistic in mimicking natural cycles and patterns. We do this by using the weeds to add nutrients back into your soil. We compost and have worms. We harvest seeds. We try to water as seldom as possible. We cover the entire garden in woodchips similar to the forest floor and there’s an Eden story behind that.

We don't till the soil which keeps the natural microbiome undisrupted. We practice companion planting. For example, we are applying the Three Sisters methodology from native peoples by planting corn, squash and beans together. We plant basil, nasturtium, and tomatoes together and we grow thyme at the base of the blackberry bushes. Companion planting protects plants from pests or disease and can also enhance the flavor of each other.