Gardening

Gardening

My own Beginnings with Gardening

by Danielle French South Pond Farms www.southpondfarms.ca

When our family moved from the city to the farm in 2006, there were no gardens.

After settling in, we put our first vegetable garden in. We worked that patch tirelessly trying to grow as many of our own vegetables as possible. The next addition to the farm were laying hens and they lived in a small coop near the garden. They loved the weeds we threw over the fence. A perfect Sunday morning was fried green tomatoes, fried eggs, topped with fresh chives, homemade sourdough toast and jam. Everything was as a result of our own efforts and was so satisfying!

Over time, I added gardens around the house, digging up all the earth by shovel and hoe. My mom saved Irises from my Grandmother’s garden and I distributed them where we would see them best. The rest of the plants I picked up from new found friends and garden shops. When we restored the barn and began to have events here at the farm, we moved the chicken coop further from the house and turned the patch of grass into the strawberry bed. A few years later, the strawberries had taken over and needed more space, so the Dahlia’s moved in. And so it went; adding more and more gardens.

When the barn restoration was nearly complete, I used the opportunity of newly laid top soil to surround the structures with peonies, roses, poppies, pollinator plants, wild grasses, foxglove, ladies mantle, hollyhock, phlox - so many varieties of plants. Over the years, we have added gardens everywhere.

I don’t think I ever had a “big picture” of how the farm should be or what it should look like. Our business evolved over time. More people came out to enjoy the gardens and our food. Holding more events

meant more flowers to fulfill the demand for bouquets and table arrangements. I added more flowers, vegetables and herbs. The hoop house now grows tomatoes, in the lower garden are annual flowers and salad greens. The first vegetable garden is again transitioning to medicinal herbs and flowering herbs. It’s always changing and I think that is a good thing.

I believe it’s appropriate when starting out to have a plan for your garden, look at how the light falls onto your plot or where containers will be and what you want to grow. Then think about the future, when your garden cannot hold your plants any longer, what are your expansion plans? That might have been a good idea for me to think about that! Every year, I find I’m inspired by new things and I figure out a way to incorporate the inspirations into my gardens and if that doesn’t work - create a new one. Happy Gardening this year and please come visit our gardens at South Pond farm.