The daughter of a horticulture major and the sister of a biology major, I am quite the green thumb. The summer before my junior year is when it all began. Ever since I was young, my family had a garden. We would even go over to my grandfather’s house and help him pick blueberries and strawberries from his garden. But the year I really fell head over heels for gardening was the summer before my junior year of college. My dad constructed two garden boxes for my mom and my sister in the beginning of May and they excitedly started planting. Broccoli, an assortment of peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and basil were all planted. One day my mom asked me to help her with the garden and I gladly volunteered and ever since then have had a strong passion for gardening. Fast forward to the present and I have come across many struggles and many truths every gardener knows.

Winter is a sad time

If you are a devote gardener, you know this struggle all too well. When I began my junior year of college, I moved back to my college town and into a teeny tiny apartment. I was no longer able to walk into the back yard and pick a tomato for lunch. And with the start of the semester comes the start of new seasons- fall and winter aka no more garden. I started looking up small greenhouses to set up in our apartment, but to my dismay, none would fit and I simply didn’t have the funds to buy one. I impatiently waited for the start of spring.

The dreaded day you find a pest

The worst fear of every gardener is finding an unwanted visitor making your garden it’s home. I never experienced a pest problem in my garden until this past summer, when I found several making themselves cozy on my plants. The first one I discovered was the squash bug. At first, I had no idea what the little grey insects were all over the squash leaves. Upon discovering them, I rushed inside to research just exactly what was in my garden. The squash bug is hard to get rid of and can even hide under the soil during the winter to terrorize you in the spring as well. The second pest I found was the tomato hornworm. This little fella blended in seamlessly. I was picking tomatoes when I noticed something a miss on one of the leaves. Again, I rushed inside to look up what the insect was. To my dismay, it was the tomato hornworm- covered in larvae. It was the end of the season when I discovered both pests in my garden and never got to resolve the problem. This spring, I’ll better prepare for and look out for pests.

When the Pest isn’t removable

Nothing is worse than when the pest can’t be removed from your home. I’m talking about our four dogs. We have two Bichon Frise, a German shepherd, and a Golden Retriever. I love all my dogs, however, they love the garden. Being the youngest, the garden was a whole new adventure for our golden retriever Harley. I went outside one day to discover one of the pepper plants scattered across the yard. I desperately tried to salvage the plant but had no luck. I one time caught our German shepherd carrying around a red pepper like it was a new toy. Several times, I’ve caught our Bichon Frise chilling in the garden. The solution: a fence.

Watering the garden is the equivalent to feeding your child

I am constantly checking with my family to make sure someone watered the garden, especially if there’s a specific plant that needs plenty of water. I get concerned when we go on vacation out of fear all the plants will die. I’ve decided I need a garden babysitter to watch over my plants and ensure their safety.

Finding new fruit is like finding treasure

I find great joy in finding new fruits and vegetables. For me, it’s like finding a new treasure. I love checking on the zucchini plant I spotted the other day and seeing it grow over time or watching as the tomatoes change from green to light orange to red. It’s so exciting because you never know what you’re going to find each day.