I grew up helping my parents in the garden and enjoyed it but when I went away to college, I realized how much I missed growing things. Then I figured out how to grow sugar snap peas under my dorm room bed. Just having that tiny patch of garden really helped (not that I ever got peas) and by the end of the year ended up with topiaries all over.

When I rented a house in college, I saw an ad for purple potatoes. I had to try it. I failed to harvest them all and the current tenants are probably still getting purple potatoes. Another rental later, I accidentally ended up with a tomato plant forest and became quite a popular neighbor.

Now I have a smallish yard, two small helpers, and a husband who actually cooks up the random harvest I bring in. I like to dabble in new plant types every year and the longer I garden, the more perennial fruit plants find themselves in our yard.

Currently I have two very tiny honeyberries, 3-4 gooseberry plants, blackberries from mom’s yard, raspberries transplanted from my neighbor, a new serviceberry that might survive the winter, concord grapes, seedless concord grapes, a dwarf honeycrisp, a mulberry that I’m trying to keep 8 feet or less, a few 100 year old shagbark hickories, a black walnut that limits my options for the front yard, a dwarf black cherry growing well under a 150 year old oak, a crandall currant, a red currant, and a champaign currant.

Last year I dabbled in different cultivars of ground cherries, trying to decide which was the best but there were too many variables so in the end, we concluded that we lost track of which we liked better (they were all yummy).I have a “cage” of pvc pipes and netting that I made to keep the birds off of the blueberry bushes we grow in pots and moved the ground cherries in there but it was not very effective for the mice.

I have started a small school garden at the elementary school at which I teach. Usually I start plants in soil blocks and transplant into the school garden so the kids can see the different stages of growth before summer break starts.

A few years ago I was gifted a 6×8 harbor freight greenhouse which we built on top of a base to raise it up high enough for my husband to get through the doorway. That has been an interesting adventure and I’m thinking that greenhouse parthenogenic veggies might be what I play around with this year.

I often lose track of time in the garden and have to be reminded that it is almost bedtime by my six and four year olds. I’m glad we don’t have to rely on my garden for all our food needs because I am very good at making mistakes but I absolutely love puttering around out there.

I’ve been cruising through GW for a few years and am delighted with this forum you’ve made here. I’ve been learning so much from everyone here and am grateful for all knowledge being passed around.