Meet the farmers: Kristie, Dave & Pennie

The farmers: Kristie, Dave & Pennie
The farm: An unused sunny backyard strip without irrigation
The situation: Once upon a time, Kristie didn't like tomatoes at all. Then she tasted a homegrown tomato from her friend's home kitchen garden and changed her mind. She wanted to try growing her own tomatoes. And squash. And peppers. And, and, and...she was hooked, but didn't know where to start.
The skills: Nursery field trip, Bed preparation, Garden installation, Garden maintenance, Harvesting, Closing down the garden, Spring garden planning

Who knows why people dislike certain foods. Hell, I hated zucchini throughout my entire childhood even though my mom grew tons of it in our childhood garden every single year and fed it to us at every single meal. OK, so in some cases we do know why we dislike certain foods. Thankfully, I got over zucchini, much like Kristie got over her distaste of tomatoes. All it took was a few homegrown tomatoes carefully handed off from a coworker before Kristie decided that she was in love.

But then what? Was she expected to sate her new found love of homegrown tomatoes with just those gifted by gardeny friends?

Um, no.

Kristie wanted to grow her own tomatoes. All different kinds, but specifically the variety she'd fallen in love with (Better Boys). And also squash. And peppers, too.

And how about some herbs? Can I grow basil? What about rosemary?

Kristie knew that she wanted to grow some vegetables and that she had a good sunny site for a garden, but didn't know where to start figuring out the best way to grow organically and productively, how to choose the best varieties, when to plant them, how to care for them and, later, what to do with all of them.

She wanted some guidance, coaching if you will, on which varieties to choose, how and where to plant them, guidance on watering, feeding, care, harvesting and troubleshooting. She wanted to be able to ask lots of questions, but do the work and reap the benefits on her own. 

And she wanted HER OWN tomatoes. That was two years ago. Now on her second full swing season of growing tomatoes (and peppers, cucumbers, squash and herbs), she's really getting a lot from the previously ignored strip of dirt in her side yard.