My Journey to a Love of Gardening

My Journey to a Love of Gardening

My mother did not grow vegetables, but she had the most beautiful flower garden. She knew all of the names of the plants in Latin. She had green thumbs. I did not acquire her talent or desire for gardening, but when I got married...almost 32 years ago...I really wanted to try to grow vegetables.

Each year my husband and I would till and weed and plant, hoping to harvest something. I had fair to good luck...some years...but other years, my brown thumbs were showing and most everything would die. Most every year, by July, it would be so hot and weedy, that I would give up...until the next year when, with hope renewed, we would try again.

I never "loved" gardening, but I did want to grow at least tomatoes. A few years ago, I decided that I was DONE with gardening. We were getting older and I was tired of failing. I asked my husband about trying to garden in containers. I got a few and tried it and...viola!...I grew tomatoes. I didn't even have to weed the garden.

That was eight years ago. My husband started making boxes and expanding our garden. We were truly successful in the garden for the first time..and no weeding. Over three years, we expanded our garden to about 20 boxes. The only trouble was that I was having to water all of the boxes by hand...in Oklahoma and my husband was working in Chicago. I called and asked him if there was an easier way to water all of the boxes because it was a lot more time consuming than I hoped.

He got to thinking about the situation and over a couple of summers, came up with a solution. He invented a watering system that watered all of boxes at once. It was amazing! No weeding AND self-watering. Truly self-watering. I didn't have to do a thing but hook the watering system up to the hose. (you can also use a rain barrel)

We loved this way of gardening so much that we decided that we needed to start a business and share this easier way of gardening with others. That is how Garden Anywhere Box was born. We travel around to fairs and farmers markets to share our easier way of gardening. We love this so much that we have to share. We talk to so many people like us. People who have tried to garden, but gave up or people who have never gardened because they just don't know where to start.

www.gardenanywherebox.com

There are people everywhere who love to garden. They love the process of getting the ground ready, composting and even weeding. I am not one of those people. I do believe that gardening should be as natural as it can be...composting and replenishing the soil, but...if you can't do that, do you do nothing? I say do what you can to grow your own food. Garden Anywhere Box is making gardeners out of people who had given up or had never gardened before.

Like I said, I never loved gardening. I thought that I was a failure. It has only been in the last few years that I have discovered a LOVE of gardening and accepted the fact that I really am a gardener. 

Instead of weeding and watering, I go out every morning before it gets hot, harvest what is ready, visit with the bees, take pictures and come inside.  

Gardening gives me joy. I have found joy in the garden after all these years. It is our mission to share GAB with others and help them find joy in the garden, too. 

It's never too late to garden.

If you have read this far, thank you for taking the time to read about my journey to a love of gardening. It took almost 30 years.

A couple of years ago, I found a quote by Alice Walker. It really touched my heart. "In Search of my Mother's Garden, I Found My Own."

My mother was an amazing gardener, but I never connected with her through gardening. She's been gone 11 years. I wish she was still here so that I could show her that I found "my" green thumbs and share my love of gardening with her.

My Kind of Garden

I don't garden in the ground. I garden in boxes. I used to have a traditional garden. For years, my husband would till the ground, we'd weed and all of the traditional garden things...until I just got tired of it. I was never a "green thumb" gardener. I never had high yields. Plus, I don't like to weed and the Oklahoma heat can be brutal. I had given up on gardening, but still wished that I could grow at least some tomatoes.

That is when we started gardening in boxes. The first year I was successful. I got tomatoes and cucumbers and I didn't have to weed the garden. I was hooked! The picture on the left is our first attempt to grow tomatoes in a box. The picture on the right is two months later. 

That was eight years ago. My husband started making boxes to expand our garden. About five years ago, I had about 20 boxes that I was watering by hand...in Oklahoma, and he was working in Chicago. I asked him if there was an easier way to water everything besides dragging the hose around to every box. He thought about it and through trial and error, invented a watering system that would water all of the boxes at once. 

Our watering system is what is unique about this type of container garden. All of our boxes are connected by tubing. The watering system hooks up to an outdoor faucet or rain barrel. The watering system senses when the water level is low in the boxes, comes on, waters everything and shuts off. It uses gravity, not electricity. Plus, you can go on vacation and your garden will be watered while you are gone. A lot of people ask if this is hydroponics or aquaponics. It is neither. Just potting mix.

We liked this way of gardening so much that we felt that we needed to share this with others. This led to us starting a business to share an easier way of gardening.

We call our company, Garden Anywhere Box. No weeding. Self-watering. Portable.

We also say, "Garden Anywhere Box...Turning Brown Thumbs Green."

Garden Harvest...May 21, 2015

The portable part is how I am able to have a garden year 'round.  My husband built a simple greenhouse onto our house. Most of the produce was started this winter in about January. As it got warmer, we moved the boxes outside. Now, with the the heavy rains and flooding that we've had recently, our garden is protected in boxes with plastic over the top. When some gardens are getting drowned and washing away, mine is staying put.

I always felt like a failure in the garden. Every year I would try and hope that my garden would be successful, and then, by July, it would be too hot and weedy to care anymore. I never really enjoyed weeding. Some people love the whole process of gardening. I'm not one of those people, but I do love the harvest. I've just found an easier way to go about it.

Here's a picture of our pool deck garden from last June. No weeding. Self-watering. Portable. This is a pic of three weeks worth of growth. We planted June 1. This pic was taken 23 days later. We travel to farmers markets, fairs and expos in Oklahoma sharing our easier way of gardening.

There will always be traditional gardeners who love the process, but there are others like me who either have never gardened before because it's a daunting task or who've given up. This is an alternative. And, if you love the traditional way, GAB is an option. You can still have your garden in the ground, but can also have one in a GAB.

You can garden year round. When it's cold outside or the weather is unpredictable like where you are, start your garden indoors, bring it out when the weather is warm. When your ground can be worked, plant a traditional garden along with your GAB, and then when the weather turns cold and your garden in the ground is done for the winter, bring your GABs back inside and continue gardening. The best of both worlds. I believe that that a traditional garden is the ideal way to garden. Composting and replenishing the soil, but if you can't do that, do you do nothing? I believe GAB is an alternative for those who don't have the time, space or ability to have a traditional garden.

This is a picture of Miss Gloria's garden. She is 80 years old and had never gardened before. Now she's growing tomatoes and harvesting lettuce. 

I love GAB so much. It has given me joy in the garden. That is what I want to share with others.  

Visit our website to see more harvest pictures and to learn more about GAB. 

www.gardenanywherebox.com