In 2022, I had an unusually high amount of success when it came to gardening, planting, harvesting, etc. - at least, for me it was unusual. I've always loved planting, and seeing things grow, but, in all my years, I never really had any success with growing much of anything.
Oh, sure, if I forgot all about it, it usually thrived, but if I fussed over it, it was like it was purposefully ignoring my help. LoL
However, in our first year on the homestead, virtually everything I planted grew, and grew well.
Of course, it wasn't in high volumes, as most everything I planted grew in a container of some kind and not in the ground. This is because we live on that good ol' southern red clay, something we plan to remedy in 2023.
But, I grew peppers of all different colors, strawberries, tomatoes of different varieties, several types of lettuce, a few herbs, lavender, jalapenos and even some weird carrots - and it was amazing! I nearly suffered heat stroke a few times sitting outside in the summer just "tending my garden," which usually meant repotting plants that had outgrown their containers - and this happened a lot!
Some of the seeds were bought from a catalog as a Christmas gift for my sweet husband, while some were sourced from a good friend of mine that has always encouraged me when it comes to gardening (he knows who he is if he's reading this).
Grow lights from this same friend made starting things from seed inside during the cold winter months even easier!
Everything but my garlic grew something, even if it was just a little - but it ALL grew.
The smell of that dirt, oh man.
And the tomato plants! I had forgotten how good the plants themselves smell!
I found it intoxicating, addictive, and incredibly rewarding.
I was gifted with a greenhouse at Christmas by the one who stole my heart and gave me his last name to keep, and we plan to assemble it together very soon (be on the lookout for VLOG footage of the assembly and a product review to match).
It means so much to me to know that I CAN actually grow at least some of our food, both for ourselves and our animals - and maybe even one day grow enough to share with others.
Thank you, Lord, for the chance to revel in the beauty of nature and see the wonder and simplicity of experiencing growth in whatever form it presents itself.
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