True gardening stories: What my garden taught me - the hard way

by Jared Garrett

It was April and the last snow of the season had come and gone. The back yard of my home in central Utah was beginning to show signs of life, with the green of grass warring with the yellow of budding dandelions. My garden...read more

by Jon Coe

I have had many gardens and have worked in many more. No two gardens are alike. They each face in different directions, they each have different grades of soil and they each have a funny way of letting you know what is ri...read more

by Mary Grundy

I purchased my first home in the middle of February 1995 in northern Canada. As you would expect the yard was buried under several feet of snow. I didn't really begin to consider the gardening possibilities or the toil tha...read more

by C McNamara

Once a gardener... I used to be a fine gardener in my young energetic days at University, if I don't say so myself! I was one of those students who studied just enough to gain credits or higher, but didn't chain myself...read more

by GrofM

It can be fun to spend time with your kids no matter what you are doing. I need to remind myself of this from time to time when I'm trying to finish a job and my six year old starts asking to play with me. Well, last wee...read more

by Marina Shemesh

What my garden taught me is that you have to give in order to receive. Sometimes just making an effort is not enough. You have to get ripped by thorns, ruin your fingernails and get really dirty before you get any results....read more

by Ron Legro

Here in Milwaukee we've got plenty of beer, so when I first began my vegetable garden years ago I had a ready supply of weaponry to use against my raised bed's number one enemy: The massive, slimy, hungry slugs that would ...read more

by Coralie Darsey-Malloy

PERSPECTIVES ON HEALTHY LIVING LEARNING BY DOING..THE DOS AND DON'T OF CREATING WATER PONDS A garden is a delight to the eye, and a solace to the soul; it soothes angry passions, and produces that pleasure wh...read more

by Dina Psichogiopoulos

Gardens are like babies. They need your tender, loving care and attention while they are young; to feed, protect and nurture them. As they grow, they need your support; to keep them safe and productive. Yet, the rewards a...read more

by Will Kester

What has gardening taught me? Patience, lots and lots of patience; that's what gardening has taught me. I'm not sure about reincarnation, but a friend of mine who is certain we are reincarnated, says we have to learn a l...read more

by Lisa Hunt Warren

All experiences are learning experiences, so here are some of my gardening/learning experiences: I've tried several times to root and plant forsythia branches, and only one of those times resulted in an actual, growing,...read more

by Cat Tackling

I THINK I PLANTED TOO MANY! February of this past year I started to get a tad bit antsy about starting my garden. I just wanted winter to be over and summer to begin! All winter I planned this vegetable garden in the de...read more

by Jules Red

I hold the pebble I have just picked up from the ground in my hands. It feels smooth and hot. Another warm day. A couple stroll through the gate and walk towards the pond holding hands as all around them people are sett...read more

by Matei Monica

Why going green? Gardens should be alive, not just with plants, but with all manner of insect, bird and animal life. To me the notion of a sterile garden is a frightening thing. Attracting the wildlife to the garden is ...read more

by Denise Murphy

My neighbors gardening mishap nearly cost him his life and it taught me never to take a plant for granted. It happened on a crisp clear April day in a cool but sunny Iowa backyard. Spring growth was just beginning to eme...read more

by Captured Illusion

Our youngest daughter was three years old when I took my favorite picture of her. Jolee was crouched down with a beautiful pink dress and matching pink ribbon, accenting her long golden curls. She had her lips parted sligh...read more

by Carol Wohlfeil

I was thirty-four years old, born and raised a city girl, when the inevitable mid-life crisis sent me packing to the country in search of a simpler life. A small abandoned hobby farm (which the classifieds described as not...read more

by Rob O'Hannon

The things my garden has taught me is humility. It's the biggest crop my garden produces, in the form of rocks of every shape and size. My gardening days started in earnest several years ago when we purchased a home in...read more

by Laura Wilson

In 2005 I moved into my first home with a garden, I was so excited about the possibilities of this outdoor living space and it really was a blank canvas ready for me to make my mark on. Looking around the dark wood chip co...read more

by Kathleen Small

A Memoir of Ferns and Acceptance All my life I have coveted the kind of magic that gardeners wield. Every time I disposed of another sun-charred basil plant, another withered tomato stalk, another empty pot of dirt that...read more