Hey there, fellow garden enthusiasts! I’m Far, your new mom friend and garden buddy. I’m so thankful you’re here! I’m out here planting seeds of happiness but not only growing a garden, I’m also growing as a person in a way that aligns with my values. Gardening is a part of my wellness practice, it’s a lifestyle, and it’s actually changed my life. I’m about to spill the “seeds” on how it can do the same for you.

Now, I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a multitasking mama. Part of it is my entrepreneurial spirit, and the other part is being a mom to my two miracle babies (every baby is a miracle, so many stars MUST align to birth a baby). If my day isn’t a juggling act, well, it’s just not complete. I bet some of you can relate to that! My secret sauce to getting through the day is planning my day the night before. I divvy up my time between mom and wife duties, head chef, homeschooling, small business tasks, and a self-care practice that includes gardening along with a protein smoothie.

Level Up Your Wellness Routine By Gardening

I don’t think I’ve ever touched soil growing up in the concrete jungle of NYC. When I grew my first plant and it set its first fruits my universe forever shifted. It was the first time I made a connection to my food and where it came from. Not only does growing your own food help you appreciate the humbling process of what it takes to serve up delicious homegrown veggies. But to take it a step further, I believe that gardening goes hand in hand with wellness – it’s relaxing, peaceful and nourishing. Plus, we get to grow alongside nature, evolving in parallel through the seasons.

Ever dreamt of having your own garden but felt overwhelmed at the thought? Well, you’ve landed in the perfect spot! We’re in this together, friends, and I’ll show you just how easily you can take some dirt and turn it into the garden of your dreams. As well as feeding yourself, your family delicious organic whole foods. 

Leave Perfection Behind and Just Start

Let’s start here friends. When you’re in the garden, just remember that there are no mistakes – only lessons. Embrace the role of a student rather than an expert, and you’ll find endless room for experimentation. Gardening is an intimate journey with yourself and nature, not a competition.

Perfection isn’t the goal in the garden. It’s okay to kill a plant or two. Let me say that again, it’s completely okay to kill a few plants along the way. Trust me, even farmers have their off days. Sometimes, trying new things means you won’t get it right the first time, and that’s perfectly fine!

So, let’s promise each other to embrace failure as a valuable lesson. Keep a journal while you’re out in the garden, be an observer, and take notes. Trust me, it’ll save you from scratching your head when planning for next year. Stay flexible, be open to learning, and remember that expertise comes with time.

When you come back here regularly, you’ll have a gardening buddy who guides you through the seasons, debunking green-thumb myths and showing you just how doable it is to grow your own organic food and flowers. I hope each post feels as if we were actually together in the garden. Going on morning walks together to observe the garden, while the birds and bees dance around us. I’m just so excited that you’re here!

Debunking Three Garden Myths – You Got This!

Speaking of myths, let’s squash three big ones right now.

• You don’t need a green thumb – nobody’s born with one! Gardening is a skill you can learn, and with enough interest, anyone can become a gardening rockstar.
• You don’t need a huge space. We’ll dive into this more in future blogs, but you can absolutely garden in small spaces. My garden isn’t a sprawling paradise, but it helps feed my family, three seasons out of the year!
• Say goodbye to the notion that you need pesticides to keep those pesky bugs at bay. I’m all about organic gardening, and trust me, you don’t need toxic chemicals to make your garden thrive.

So it’s very possible for you to start gardening with little to no experience and I’m an example of someone who had no exposure yet I successfully grow veggies and flowers which tells me that you can too!

If This City Girl Can Grow Veggies So Can You

I spent most of my life in apartments with no yards. But that all changed after I got married and my husband and I uprooted our lives to New England.

I should mention a bit about my hub. He’s my soulmate, my best friend. We do just about everything together. He’s the one I go to celebrate wins and cry on when I’m sad. We stay up at night talking about our dreams, goals and life. He’s the best Papa to our babies and an incredible human overall.

My journey into gardening began as a way to heal from postpartum health issues. About a year after my daughter was born, I was still feeling unwell. So, I started venturing out into our yard to clear my head and that is where I had the idea one day to get a few potted plants for the patio. That’s where it all sparked for me, I quickly fell in love with gardening and I’ve never looked back.

That year I decided to create an in-ground rose bed. We planted all sorts of beautiful blooms and even added some daisies and yarrows for extra pop. But I didn’t stop there – I had the itch to grow some food. So, we built a raised bed and embarked on a journey into the unknown pretty much. 

I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, but that didn’t matter. I was feeling better, gardening made me happy. Gardening became my escape and passion. My family and I were smitten with our little patch of green. My daughter would happily munch on Matt’s Wild cherry tomatoes straight from the vine, and it brought us so much joy to watch our plants grow.

Gardening from Scratch

Coming from NYC, I really had no idea how veggies grew from seed to plant and then fruit. It was magical and still is. The following Spring, we decided to expand our garden and move the fence. I bought the materials for raised beds, and you won’t believe it – my hubby, built my entire raised bed kitchen garden all by himself. It amazes me how much he pours into our relationship and how quickly he’ll roll up his sleeves just to make me happy. I’m so grateful to have a partner like him. 

Since those early days, we’ve added an in-ground pollinator bed and a cut flower space to our garden. We even have a small raised bed just for my four-year-old to explore. It brings me so much joy to see the garden through her lens, to watch her eagerness and excitement as she picks string beans off of plants or when she runs around with a handful of ground cherries. 

Gardening is a lifestyle, the veggies are a bonus!

I started gardening as part of a self-care practice (garden therapy is real friends). Now it’s ingrained in our lifestyle, it’s an extension of our home, it brings us so much more than veggies. I couldn’t imagine keeping this joy to myself. So I’ve made it my mission to spark a love for gardening in as many people as I can.

So, with this blog, I aim to create a safe space for those who may not feel like they have a “green thumb” or the know-how. I’ll share my knowledge, skills, and experiences so you can feel confident growing your own food and flowers at home while reaping the wellness benefits of gardening too. Gardening is a big part of who I am but it is not all I am. We tend to show up in the world, especially professionally, as linear as possible but that’s not real life. I’m multi-passionate and I bet you are too! So you’ll also find parts of me like motherhood, home and wellness here. 

We reap the reward of our labor in the garden through the abundant harvests but let’s promise to take it one step further and truly embody the lifestyle, always reaching for what brings us the most joy. And for when our baskets overfill with veggies, because they will, I have the perfect harvest basket for you, it’s durable, washable and holds a ton of veggies!

One Task To Get You Started

Here’s a fun task that you can do to start a home garden today: head outside, find the sunniest spot in your yard, and start sketching out your dream garden. Imagine the shape, style, and design you want. Put it on paper and let your creativity flow. We’ll talk about materials and planning in future blogs, so for now, just start there.

Remember, we’re all gardeners, and whether you have a small patch or a sprawling backyard, as long as you’ve got some sunshine, you’re in the game! You’ve also just learned that there are many benefits to gardening that go way beyond picking veggies. So let’s get gardening to uplevel your happy-meter!