Kari’s Garden Tour
How long have you been gardening?
K: I’ve been gardening in the ground since 2020. Somewhat successfully since 2021. Patio gardening since I had my first apartment. I always covered my patio or balcony with plants.
Who or what made you desire gardening?
K: I have early memories of gardening with my dad. He had a strawberry patch and other things when I was little. My grandmother was an avid gardener. She lived in upstate New York and I didn’t see her often. Visiting her always inspired me as she grew lots of vegetables and berries and things and also had many squirrel and chipmunk friends that would eat peanuts out of her hand. My father-in-law, whom lives next door, has a beautiful vegetable garden. We have shared many meals straight from his garden and when our son, MJ was little he always welcomed us to come and work with him in the garden. His garden was a huge inspiration for our own.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced with your first garden and how did you overcome it?
K: In 2020 I was so excited to get started and we began building our garden in the spring of that year. I bought lots and lots of seeds, mostly flowers as I was hoping to cultivate a cut flower garden first and foremost and also to learn how to grow food. With all our seeds started I anxiously awaited the completion of the garden but it wasn’t until July that it was finished. We went ahead and filled the beds with great soil and planted out in the heat and almost everything stunted. Like 95% of our plants! I was convinced it was the soil. I refused to believe it was the July heat. I called the soil company and the kind lady on the phone must of thought I was nuts or she just new I was a newbie gardener because she let me lay out all my frustrations and assured me that I hadn’t planted at the right time of the year. I dismissed her but then the following spring like magic, everything grew and I realized she had been right. That was my first big lesson.
What were some of your challenges this season?
K: Slugs in our strawberry patch but we do have a plan in regards to them for next year. Also, our chickens won’t stay out of the pumpkin patch. I planted it, fenced it and they still found a way in and so the patch only lasted a day before it was completely uprooted and turned in to a dust bathing area once again.
What are the greatest joys you find in gardening?
K: Connection to nature. The garden has become a spiritually significant space for our family. I love that MJ has been raised with almost daily time in the garden. He has learned so much about gardening and symbiosis and our food. I love that the space is often visited by our homeschool group too. I hope that many kids will spend more time in the garden in the future.
How is your family involved or blessed by the garden?
K: We each better understand our connection to food. We all love making bouquets and giving them to family and friends. It has become a space where we pray, we plant, we work hard, we have bonfires and dinners and movie nights and parties.
What factors impact your decisions on what to grow each season?
K: I have added many perennial flowers over the past year, spring bulbs, tall varieties of flowering shrubs that are good for cut gardening, and summer bulbs like gladiolus and irises, lilies. Some of what comes back and is prolifically self-seeding like nigella, pansies and dara. I just let come back and have a place. Because my father in law does so much veg and lives right next door we tend to do less veg. We mostly grow prolifically blooming cut flowers like zinnias, snap dragons, dahlias, cosmos, phlox.
Has gardening been economical for your family? In what ways?
K: Gardening cut flowers from seed or perennial is very economical for us as we do cut and give many bouquets to family and friends each year but I do think that growing from seed greatly reduces upfront cost as opposed to purchasing established plants or starts. In regards to the food that we grow and that my father in law grows, I feel that it is hard to put a value on knowing how it was grown and by whom and to include the experience of growing it and teaching the next generation I think there is so much value in that as well. Separately I would definitely say that to dig in the dirt and to get my hands dirty can be highly therapeutic. Great stress relief. I feel more connected to nature, the land, the seasons, and I release stress. I don’t wear gloves because I truly enjoy to get my hands down in the dirt and though it is hard work it feels good.
What lessons are your garden teaching you this season?
K: Patience, perseverance, to work hard. To stay ahead of things.
What is your favorite plant growing in your garden this season?
K: My favorite plant is almost always the zinnias more so than the beautiful dahlias or anything else really because they are so prolific it allows us to cut and make so many more arrangements. The pollinators love them as well.
Are you cultivating a plant that has a story or meaning behind it?
K: Lemon balm, when we were putting in the garden we found this shrub. Our son, MJ wanted to keep it. It smells like citronella to me. We decided to keep it. It was one of the first plants that interested me in medicinal plant growth and since we have tried growing or continue to grow many different medicinal plants. I would love to learn much more about medicinals, to grow them, to tincture them, to teach MJ about them.