The Urban Permaculture Farm Magazine

I'm a 36 year old commercial real estate lender in the Seattle area with two young boys and a stay-at-home wife. Growing up, my mother had two raised beds in our small back yard where she grew tomatoes, cucumbers and onions, among other things. But I was never into gardening. I have a ¼ acre lot that I hated to mow, let alone landscape and I can't even keep houseplants alive. So how did a black thumb turn into an avid gardener? My garden all started from a discussion with my older brother.

A year ago I had a 250 SF area of my yard that used to be a dog run. In the decade since we owned our home, we never really went back there and it became blighted with foot tall and deep weeds, a crab apple tree and morning glories galore! Talking it over with my brother, who had picked up the gardening bug and had three raised beds in his yard, he suggested I turn the area into a garden.The area had a perfect southern exposure and was already fenced in. At first I laughed at him, but the idea kind of grew on me.

About that same time, I was speaking to my best friends from college about starting a garden. My buddy recommended that I read Mel's Square Foot Gardening book. My brother was very skeptical, but I read it anyway and was hooked! It was so easy, anyone could do it.

Finally, as if I needed further encouragement, I had enrolled in a blood pressure reduction program at work. The health counselor went through all the standard litany of methods to reduce blood pressure, but I was already doing them all. It ended up boiling down to stress reduction. With a stressful job and a young family, I had no time for stress relieving hobbies. So when I suggested gardening, the counselor was very excited. Gardening is a great stress relief and the byproduct is nutritious fruits and vegetables.

So I turned to the internet to research gardening. I've found that I'm really good at research, and I am a quick learner. That and I love helping people, so I try to answer questions on various gardening forums whenever I can, of course while I'm learning from others.I write about my mistakes, my challenges, and how I overcome them. I've made more mistakes in my first season gardening than I can count. The funny thing is, the garden grew anyway! Mostly though, along the way this season I've made lasting friends, dozens of them. Gardeners are the friendliest, most helpful people on the planet. It's not a competition, it's a camaraderie.