Beginnings

Hi there,

Welcome to my first attempt at blogging. I suppose for starters, I should explain how I reached the decision to start a blog, the topic of this blog, and what I hope to accomplish with this blog.

I have a good friend that has a dream to become a writer. Like many folks that want to become writers, she seems unable to jump in and put herself out there for the readers of the world. In an attempt to encourage, challenge, bribe, and cajole her...I offered to start a blog in sympathy and to show how easy it is (ok, ok...i realize writing a GOOD blog isn't easy...but i do have faith that she is a good writer...she just needs a little motivation, and being a little bit of the competitive sort, I'm hoping this will start a fire under her)

I spent a few days brainstorming for topics. I have a very cool job which would make for an interesting subject, however, the fear of being "busted" for posting something that someone in upper management found inappropriate or unsuitable kept me from using that as a topic. Unfortunately the field i work in is small enough that despite my best efforts, it would be nearly impossible to remain anonymous. I love my job and would prefer to keep it, so that idea went out the window. While I have many varied interests, I have little in-depth knowledge in most of these and I'm pretty sure I would run out of things to say after about 3 posts. However, one of my interests is gardening. That topic kept popping up in my head. While it's true, my gardening knowledge is sorely lacking (ok...I know next to nothing about it), I figured that this would allow me to share my discoveries, dreams, and revelations....and the learning curve on this one is wide open....i should be able to get at least 10 posts..hehehe

Like so many people today, I've become smitten with the idea of being able to produce your own food in a typical suburban yard. I have a vision of walking out into my immaculately planned and maintained garden on a sunny morning and and filling a large basket with a stunning amount of beautiful, varied, and organic produce (all glistening in the morning dew, of course, and picture perfect with brilliant reds, yellows, and greens) So far, this vision has remained firmly in my head and is nowhere near what reality has given me. The fact that it is already june 27th and I'm just now getting around to writing about my gardening adventures is probably a good clue as to how I tend to work. I procrastinate. I seem to have a gift for the ability to sit around with a pot of coffee and waste hours of a precious weekend. I have big ideas with no follow-thru. Hopefully in addition to motivating my friend to start writing for the world, this blog will motivate me to get off my butt and put a little bit of effort into my gardening.

After decades of living in apartments, I recently became a home-owner. At last! an outlet for my urban agriculture fantasy. I bought a little run-down brick house with a fabulous yard (nearly 1/2 acre!) I moved in last summer. While a huge garden was on my wish list, the responsibilities of a run-down home took priority (ugh...major mold issues...and not a maintenance man in sight). My very first garden consisted of a few tomato plants plopped here, a couple of pepper plants plopped there, and a promise that next spring I would start the garden of my dreams the right way. Umm....ok, so it's my second summer in this house. the garden is a little more planned but no where near "The Vision". The title of this blog came from the fact that I attempted to grow some radishes this year. Radishes, according to nearly every online garden site, are one of the easiest and most productive plants you can grow in your garden. Yeah, about that...I have managed to harvest a single radish so far. Ouch...this will definitely be a learning experience for me. Hopefully, this blog will be an entertaining read while I stumble through the process of learning how to be a proficient gardener and urban farmer.

Andy