My earliest remembrance of being in a garden is “helping” my father. We were hoeing the garden before he was to leave for work at 6:30 AM. I can’t say exactly how old I was but I know that we moved from that house when I was two. I know, you probably won’t believe that. But believe it or not; it’s true.

Anyway, fast forward several years and what little I truly ever knew about gardening had been lost. I really did want to garden but, even though I had been raised with farming, to be honest actually gardening myself was a bit intimidating. I mean, would I be able to keep up with the weeds? Would I apply too much fertilizer, and kill every thing, like I had my front lawn a few years before? Would most of the things die or would I really get something for all my hard word? What would everybody think about me if the garden was a failure? I mean, others made it look so easy but when it really gets right down to it, how do you deal with all of the details like how much and when do you water, how big should it be, etc.?

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Genesis 1:29

What I didn’t realize back then is that there are many ways to garden. Different strokes for different folks as they say. Gardening in a Victory Garden can be the back bone of a Sustainable Living Program. Since there is still some time left, this year, to start the garden; for the next few days or so we’re going to briefly discuss some of the many methods of gardening.

Perhaps you can try something new, combine a couple of the methods or customize them to make them fit just right for you. There’s no reason to be intimidated. Which ever method you use start slow and grow with your experience. There are so many advantages to growing a garden of some sort (even if you’re in an apartment), you can’t afford not too! Stay tuned.

I’ll see you out in the field,
Parson Rayphe