Although my blog so far does not support the fact, one of my favorite hobbies after writing is gardening. I started on WordPress at the end October which in Virginia is past our growing season. Consequently I have not had a gardening topic as a post on my blog. That will soon change as I intend to share my years of gardening experience in this space. We have planted a garden every years since we had our own patch of ground starting in May of 1994.
In these intervening years our gardens have sported a wide variety of vegetables, including: potatoes, beans, peppers, tomatoes, melons, squash, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, lettuce and other vegetables. We enjoy the process, which allows us to enjoy the warmer weather and beauty of nature. Planting a seed or seedling and watching it develop into a mature plant with mature “fruit” is something my wife and I enjoy immensely.
Fresh vegetables have a unique taste. We also like the sense of accomplishment that accompanies the completion of the harvest. We can take these vegetables and make other items, such as spaghetti sauce, salsa, soups and the like with combinations of the vegetables.
My other G topic is greenhouses. From 2002 through 2007 I operated a greenhouse business where I sold flowers and vegetables. During this stretch I grew thousands of flowers and vegetables for resale and had such a wonderful experience learning how to grow all the different varieties. Unfortunately the economics of greenhouses is such that you have a difficult time competing against the large national retailers such as Wal Mart, Lowes and the like.
I invite you to join the fun. If you are interested you can follow this link to the April A to Z Blogging Challenge.
SPECIAL NOTE : I would like to use this space to offer a heartfelt thank you to Arlee Byrd, the founder of this challenge. I am happy to see his vision become such a great success. Leaders always step out of the pack to create something special. We want Arlee to know how much we appreciate his genius.
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Joe's Musings 
I love gardening, and here in Australia, I’m lucky enough to be able to garden pretty much year round. Love the pictures of your garden, it looks beautiful (and productive).
Rinelle Grey
Here in SW Ontario it’s still too muddy for the garden. We do our planting at the end of May – all sorts of flowers all colours and textures. And some veg especially tomatoes – yum Mono-coloured gardens are boring 😀
I ❤ gardening too. My passion is roses. But ever since I left VA, giving up prize winning roses, to move to Germany, I heart broke. It wasn't until I bought my first house that I planted more roses. I just couldn't bear leaving them each time we moved. But the problem I find here in FL is that I can't seem to have a successful rose garden. The soil is too sandy, lacking in pH. Drainage is horrid. And the heat is unbearable. And don't get me started on the bugs! OMG! So, I have to learn all this all over again. 3 years have passed, and I've lost 4 beautiful roses. I planted hedge roses around my porch last year, and I'm afraid they aren't doing well either. My heart breaks. But, I guess I just need to learn what works well here. Or, try my hand at different plants for my garden that do well here in FL. I'd love to be able to have my own greenhouse, and veggie garden, but the land is scarce in my neighborhood 😉
Thanks for sharing!
❤
Jamie
Out in Arizona, we have two growing seasons: spring and fall. I started my garden back in February and it is really starting to take off. We’ve got everything from black-eyed peas to zucchini taking root. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Impressive! I’m itching for the growing season to begin here in New Hampshire. We have two vegetable gardens, and enjoy everything from cucumbers and zucchini to potatoes, onions, and tomatoes. Soon. 🙂
I was able to get my garden worked up last Saturday and plan to plant potatoes on Wednesday evening. We do a patch for donation to our church food bank.