My name is Craig and I live in the Baltimore area. While I am an Accountant by trade, my real
passion is growing fresh organic vegetables.
There is no more rewarding pursuit than taking a garden from seeds in
the basement to fresh, succulent vegetables on the dinner table. All that effort, the sweat and labor that permeates
your soul, is the payoff every gardener, big and small, looks forward to at the
beginning of each season. We begin with
so much promise and so much enthusiasm after a long winter's hibernation. That is why I do it. The sheer enjoyment of digging my hand into
the soil and feeling the crumbly, soft soil sift through my hands. I often take a handful of this black gold,
raise it close to my nose, and breathe in ever so deeply the rich, fragrant
aroma of a new year to come. That’s what
wakes me up early in the morning and keeps me excited throughout the
season.
I was not always a gardener and quite frankly, I wasn’t much
interested to tell the truth. It was not
until my mid-teens that this little hobby of mine began. My parents tore down the old pool in our back
yard. They were perplexed at what to do
with the big brown area it uncovered. Our
neighbor Levere convinced me to take a stab at a vegetable garden. He was a very experienced older Italian gentleman
gardener who grew some of the best Italian varieties you could find. I could swear he took me under his wing more
for his own amusement. Through patient
guidance, he helped instill in me the love for gardening. My first year was pretty good by my standards
and each succeeding year got better. I
was hooked from that point and there was no going back.
With that as my foundation, over the years I have explored the
many and varied forms of the art of gardening.
As most of us do, I started with the typical row garden. From there, my gardening has evolved,
transformed and begat what I now call my hybrid garden. I have often tried something new and/or
different when it came to the garden. I have
come to believe that experimentation is the best way to keep things fresh for
you and the garden. The results haven’t
always been spectacular but I think I learned something new each time I
ventured off the beaten path. And that’s
the nature of gardening.
I have even dragged my wife into this crazy world. She has fed my obsession with gardening by
supporting me with the many well thought out gifts I received over the years
and by doing research herself on various things I would only mention
casually. Through her research, I have
been exposed to things that I did not even know existed. I mean, who knew that I needed a Mason Bee
Hive in my backyard? Or even a
hydroponic system. Well, certainly not
I. If not for her, I would not be half
the gardener I am today.
So this is going to be a journey of things known and unknown. I hope to inspire those who see gardening as a scary proposition to take the leap. So, come along with me and let's explore the vast world of gardening. It is a rewarding pursuit.
