Gardening: How long and how did you get started?

I thought this might be fun to talk about. My Dad got me started in gardening over 35 years ago. He grew the most beautiful roses you've ever seen. People would come from other neighborhoods just to see them. He'd let me help him in the rose garden just about every day. Besides roses, he also grew tomatoes in buckets that grow to be taller than the top of the greenhouse...a greenhouse that Dad bought just for ME to grow seeds in! He grew his tomatoes in wood shavings and watered them with some kind of liquid fertilizer. I learned a lot about gardening from my Dad in that garden. I also learned a lot about life there, too. We talked for hours and hours about all kinds of things. Dad made me feel so very important... like he really needed my help. That sure did make a little kid feel good! Dad and his garden passed away many years ago but his influence remains a constant in my life and the gardening talks and traditions live on with me and my own children.

Pete2

I remember working in the vegetable gardens when I was a little girl. My very first garden that belonged to only me was when I was 10. That was about 21 years ago. We all helped out in the vegetable garden. When I was even younger, I remember sitting in the back of a pickup and shucking corn. I have always had a love of flowers though. I remember going for walks and bringing my mom wildflower boquets or lilacs to put in a vase.

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I starting gardening after I graduated from high school in 1993. My first job was weeding out a rose bed in front of an antique shop. I decided if I was gonna kill myself weeding, it would be in my own garden. My friends think I'm a dork, because people "my age" (25) shouldn't be gardening like "old ladies". I just laugh at them, because they are always coming after everything is grown to eat me out of tomatoes and salad greens. :)

- Amanda

What a great thread Pete! Lets see, I used to go sit in Paw-Paw's garden and ask him a million questions. He would always hum the same tune, it was so funny. I can remember when he would be planting he would make the drills and let me drop the seed in. Now my little girl is doing the same thing I used to do. So for as long as I can remember I played in the dirt. I Just love the feel and smell of it. I am 39, so I guess I've been "gardening" for 36 years... Lisa

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Memories of gardening. . . aren't they wonderful. When I was a very little girl, (a very lonnnnnng time ago) my brother and I would walk up to my grandparents house to "play". My grandfather was a very tall, blond german, very particular about his garden. But, he would let us drop the potatoes to be planted, and run up and down the rows in the soft dirt. He never fussed at us - and he would ignore it when we pulled a handful of peanuts too early. To this day I love them as green as I can get them.
He ploughed with a hand plow that had a huge front wheel.

My grandmother had a beautiful cottage garden - with the most gorgeous yellow rose I have ever seen, even to this day! That's where my love for roses started.

They had these geese in a pen near the garden and they would honk at us as we played in the garden. Sometimes we would slip into the pen and they would chase us, and pinch us if they caught us.

What wonderful memories - and what a wonderful way for children to turn those memories into reality today.

Thanks for sharing,
Grits

Oh yeah, memories...first, some grandmother's garden in Vera, TX with lots and lots of larkspur..taller than me at the time. My mother grew roses and would let me take a bushel basket out and pick as many as I wanted. We would often drive to Dallas to visit my grandparents, and on the way,at every beautiful patch of wildflowers I would whine until my dad would pull over and let me pick them. We later moved to Garland to a new housing development and the ground was nothing but black clay subsoil. I would get the spading fork and dig gardens and beds. I wasn't very successful as the fork was bigger than me, but I was determined to grow a flower garden that looked like the ones in my Little Golden Books. I'm still determined. And the gardens are getting better.

Gosh, those Grandpas certainly had an influence on alot of us didn't they? Mine lived with us & gardened from early morning...until dark. He built wonderful double level round rock gardens that absolutely fascinated me. I got in trouble with him one day for 'stealing' a flower from the next door neighbor's weed patch!

Today, I garden on 20 acres..... about 5 in various flower beds... some in exercise paths.... some in ponds....some wild Montana woods. All of this thanks to Grandpa!

I too started gardening with my Dad back in the late 40's, I was about 10 at the time. I come from a big family and we had a big vegetable garden. My brother and I had to weed one row every day in the summer before we could go swimming (or fishing). In those days I used to hate picking, snapping and washing string beans. We used to can bushels and bushels and bushels, or so it seemed. My Dad's gone now but what he taught me is priceless. I've been gardening ever since and have three sons of my own who also garden and have since they were kids. Thanks Dad!

What a wonderful legacy of family learning and love! Your stories gave me a warm fuzzy feeling on a very cold Saturday morning.

Sharon

I remember gardening with me Dad. My earliest memory has to have been from about 3 when I would walk behind him and put the corn in the hills. That's how I learned to count. I did get in trouble a couple of times for putting 10 or so seeds in each hill, but he never got really mad. Once, a huge pile of "dirt" was delivered to be put on the garden. I had sooo much fun throwing the dirt in the air and sliding down the huge mound for hours. Then I learned that the "dirt" was not dirt at all. I cried for a long time because it was so 'gross'! Helping to shuck the corn. break the beans,...dad always said that no one could dig for the potatoes better than me! I would eat the corn as fast as mom could cut it from the cob. I made myself sick at least once a year on the grapes and blackberries.

With all the work I did in the garden, and the kitchen while all my friends were playing at the pool, I swore I'd NEVER be a farmers wife!

Amanda- Dave and I are about the same age as you, and all of our old friends from the city have laughed at us for being farmers! This is one of the most rewarding things in life, IMHO (other that the babies). I wouldn't have it any other way.

My Dad and I love to talk about how I 'helped'. He is on the phone with me every week giving me advice. I'll be seeing him next week, and he wants to give us all his old tools, many of which were my grandfathers....the circle continues.

Thanks for the memories!

Trish

What a wonderful thread.....my fondest and earliest memories were of my grandma's vegetable garden, and walking through my dad's wheat fields on our farm in rural Nebraska.....there's just something about the smell of warm dirt that takes me back to those times.

At different times of my life, I've gotten sidetracked from gardening - job/travel, kids/sports, but I always come back to it. And spending that first warm day outside, digging, weeding and planting, coming in with dirt-encrusted hands and an aching back, are exquisitely pleasurable.

And the circle continues; my five year-old daughter is fascinated by gardening. We bought her her first pair of "real" gardening gloves yesterday (Target has a great selection of kids stuff, by the way), and she was thrilled to death. She's helping me plant seeds indoors, and keeps talking about when we can get outside to do "real" gardening!

What a great idea for a thread!

I grew up on a farm, where we had a large garden, and I absolutely hated it! Weed, weed, weed . . . . not a kids idea of fun. I never had any interest in gardening . . . zero, zippo, nada.

Then, five years ago, my husband and I bought our first home. Suddenly, I had my OWN dirt. I was instantly possessed by the need to grow things.

My poor hubby didn't know what hit him (because of course I immediately recruited him into the insanity). He was astounded because had no idea that I liked to garden (We'd been together 7 years at that time, and even though he's pretty oblivious to details, he figured he'd have noticed that). I'm like, "Me neither! Who knew???"

And that was the beginning of the obsession. I dug up 1400 square feet of grass our first year (if you don't know what you're doing, it's always a good idea to start HUGE!)
Only now, after five years, have my neighbors found the courage to confess that they thought I was insane. (I'm pretty sure they meant that 'past tense'). :o)

Now, it's absolutely my passion-the cheapest therapy in the world, and you get pretty flowers to boot!

What a wonderful thread! My grandmother could grow anything; and my most vivid memories of her are revisited anytime I smell mint. We started ponding and gardening after our 13 year old "Lady" left us in 1997. To work through our grief we dug a pond......well, it wasn't big enough, so we dug another one. We had to do something with all that dirt, so we removed all the grass (except a 12X12 patch for the new "girls" - Lhasa and Chihuahua) and planted everything to flowers. In order to keep all the tropicals we had in our ponds, we had to build a greenhouse. And so the story began. We just discovered trading this past fall, and have "met" many wonderful people in our trades; and made some wonderful trades! Gardening in Oklahoma weather is a challenge to say the least, but we welcome the challenge. It is our dream to someday buy the empty lot next door; build a BIG greenhouse and do the Mom and Pop greenhouse thing. I am fortunate in that my DH is as delirious about gardening as I am!

Becky G.

My gardening interest came about when I was around 10 years old (for the record, 29 years ago). An elderly neighbor introduced me to her African Violets on the windowsill and the many Balsam plants in her yard. She took the time to show me how to mix soil, replant, divide and harvest seeds. Everytime I was over there in her small city back yard, it was a retreat to spend such time learning neat things and watching new things grow. Our time was more than just gardening, though. She also taught me how to crochet and we would sit for hours making blankets and talking about life in general, even at my early age. The lessons I learned from this wonderful woman went beyond the backyard and skeins of yarn. She truly added to my spirit. Several years ago I visited her one last time. I thanked her for the many years of our friendship and let her know how she had positively influenced my life with the love of gardening and nature. It was wonderful to hug her as we cried together. Sadly, she suddenly passed away a few weeks after my visit. My gardening is always a reminder of her kindness and friendship to a little girl who grew and blossomed :)
Trish

Well I doubt I can say anything that hasn't already been said here. Been gardening since the early fifties, involuntarily at first! LOL But like a lot of people, I never pick berries or make pickles without thinking about the old folks, and how they let us "help". Makes me nervous now having kids around when I'm pouring boiling jelly!
Well this kohlrabi ain't gonna plant itself! Happy gardening to all! :)

H'mm Big-Red, think you have me beat by a tad.

My first rememberance is last year of the 40's, Dad gave me 6 tomato plant to tend.

He had about 1/2 acre, plus I had to tend a cow, pig and chickens.

My first home was the first Vetenary Hosp in NE, and it was just down the street from the origin of first publication of Madd Mag.

Byron

Hi all, My grandparents owned a small farm in Greenfield IN when I was young. They gave it up & moved to the city when I was 10. Grandpa made the entire backyard a vegetable garden!! I didn't get along with gramps (step-grandfather) so not much learning took place. After he passed away I rented the house next to Grandma. This was great!!! She took out most of the garden and planted grass, but taught me all she knew. She used to say "Grandpa is probably rolling over in his grave if he sees how I tend to this garden" but she never had any failures. Grandma had beautiful roses, cosmos, horseradish (more for looks after gramps passed), rhubarb, and a small vege patch. She had a stroke in 1999 and is in a nursing home now (she still has her brain). When I bought my house (near Greenfield) I brought one of her roses with me. I hope it will make it!! I will really be starting the gardening thing this year (I've always put out a flat of impatiens or something in front of the old house). I think I will go visit Grandma tomorrow.....Julie

Byron, my first plants of my own was a hill of Blue Hubbard squash. Man was I proud of those, no weeds in that hill! We always saved seeds from the biggest for the following year. Wish I still had some of those original seeds. We also raised chickens and pigs, no cows though.

I'm amazed at how many of you gals were all born the same year. Thirty nine? I thought you were all younger! hehehe

I'm thrilled with this thread, but very envious of all of you with extensive family gardening backgrounds. Stressful family scenarios got me started gardening last year. I put in raised beds anytime the ground would permit last winter, just from frustration, filled them with topsoil, and, as they say, the rest is history... I got hooked. I found out how much I love it. What a wonderfully therapeutic outlet! I had a saying last summer that you could always tell how frustrated I was by how good my garden looked.
There is nothing quite like eating your own homegrown veggies, and enjoying the beauty of greenery and flowers.
Now I suffer from plant-lust, and my gardening objectives are more lofty and (hopefully) positive. I attended a six-hour "Cabin Fever Cure-All" horticultural symposium yesterday, and highly recommend anyone anxious for spring attend one of these if you have anything like this in your area. About half the attendees (350) were master gardeners, and the speakers were great!
Thanks to everyone at Dave's for helping with information and seeds, and most of all, to Dave and Trish for making this all possible.

What great gardening stories. I have been raising houseplants, planting trees/shrubs, and fooling around with vegetable gardening since my marriage 33 years ago. We lived in town for 14 years, so my vegetable garden wasn't very large. But I had lots of potted plants and many shrubs in my yard. I had a small greenhouse and a compost bin from the beginning, thanks to my handyman husband. For about 20 years, we have lived on 10 acres about 5 miles from town. Once we got the land cleared and finished building our house and outbuildings, we started planting fruit trees, ornamental and fruiting shrubs, and breaking up a large garden spot. Our vegetbable garden is larger or smaller each year, depending on other activities going on. I process our produce for winter eating. I have many potted plants and a large greenhouse. We now have several compost bins and I am always picking up my city friend's bags of pinestraw and leaves for shredding and composting. I love living in the country. As a child, we didn't have a garden or fruit trees. With 7 children, my mother only had time to raise kids, not flowers or vegetables. We had limited income and resources, so we didn't have the necessary equipment for large scale gardening. My folks just never could seem to get ahead. They were always struggling to just keep their heads above water financially. I can remember my maternal grandmother always having beautiful old fashioned roses such as Cherokee and seven sisters. My paternal grandfather farmed 10 acres and drove a horse-pulled wagon to town to sell his produce. That was about 45 years ago probably, since I was only about six or seven years old at the time. You would get ran over trying that today. Enough for now! I may jump back to this thread later. It is sunny and warming up fast outside, so I need to weed the onion and leek rows in our garden. It is still pretty wet in the garden, but dry enough in the yard to do some transplanting. We are supposed to be in the 60's and 70's for a few days, so yardwork is on my agenda. Redbug in SW Louisiana