This edition of the Grow Write Guild is about planning a dream garden.... This is easy, I've been doing it for years. 

I suppose I’m kind of a practical dreamer when it comes to my garden; to sum it up, I want a garden that almost totally feeds me. Like 90% (gotta leave room for the goat cheese and occasional take out pizza).

I want to look out my kitchen window and see waves and layers of all shades of Green. Tomatoes on the vines, squash hiding under all their leaves, ready to be discovered, beans climbing up a teepee. Chickens pecking around the garden happily, fertilizing and eating all the pests. I dream of a small orchard of fruit trees, heavy with fruit. An abundance of grapefruit in the winter to make mint-grapefruit mojitos with, figs, peaches, and of course the radiant pomegranate tree we already have.  Spring is ushered in when her first vibrant red blossoms appear.

The front yard would be an herb garden. We would have fenced in the front yard so it would feel like a little country oasis. I would grow every type of herb I could order out of the seed catalogues. Even the ones that require a few years growing time for the roots. I would walk out front in the mornings, when it is still crisp and cool, and harvest herbs for the day in a basket. Smelling the lavender and mint as I brush past them.

There would be many rain barrels and (most) of the water we need would come from the monsoons and be stored for the rest of the year. There would be a large 3 compartment compost bin, separated neatly by found and recycled pallets.  Worms in the garden, bees in the air.

And all of this would happen in the desert. :) It is possible, but very, very difficult. That’s why it’s still just a dream. 


 
Picture
Our greenhouse during the winter months.
Gayla from You Grow Girl has started a "creative writing club for people who love to garden," with wonderful prompts. I have decided to jump in, so here is my first post answering the prompt: Write about your first Plant.  

Gardening is in my DNA. Both my parents had incredible green thumbs, and my childhood homes and yards were always overflowing with all manner of trees, vegetables, flowers, herbs and houseplants. My Dad was a gardener and landscaper and my uncle grew fruits and vegetables to sell at the local farmers markets.   Our half acre held a small orchard that had been planted there years before my family moved in- and as a small child I remember picking all kinds of apples, cherries, apricots and peaches. They usually got turned into delicious pies and cobblers cooked by my mother the same day they were picked, or saved for jams and jellies.

On hot summer evenings, when the sun started setting, my Mom would spend hours outside tending the garden. She would water row upon row of vegetables, do the weeding, then come in at night with basketfuls and spend the rest of the night cooking up her harvest. Our front yards were an explosion of color from dozens of varieties of flowers. In the spring, we would head to the local nursery and go on flower filled shopping sprees. These memories define my childhood.



    About Me

    My name is Melisa (but I go by Wren) and I might be a little crazy. I decided to quit my solid, respectable day job because I missed sunshine. And because I have had this nagging desire to control my own destiny for as long as I can remember. I took a leap of faith into a new life, starting from scratch.

    This blog is documentation of our experiments and adventures in creating a more sustainable, self-reliant urban homestead and crafting a happier, more meaningful life and career.  

    I dont know what this journey holds, but I hope that the winding path ahead includes yoga, bright colors, herb gardens and goats. 

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