How I got into Gardening

Actually I am answering to a question here, and I do it on my blog, because I believe that this question comes up over and over again when we talk with people. Said that I am also curious how you got into gardening.

When I was a little girl my grandparents had a garden where I often went to help my grandpa. It was there where I learnt many things I still do today and many particulars are "coming back" to me bit by bit. At that time
I also lived with my grandparents, since both of my parents worked.

When I was around 11 years old my mom and my stepfather went to another city and after a couple of years they had a garden, a so called Schrebergarten which you can rent, but then, I was not really interested in gardening. Well it was an age of those ...

When I was 21 I moved to the south of Italy. At the beginning I had only some salad on my balcony, I dried tomatoes in summer, preserved zucchini and eggplants. Years later and after some moves I met Anna and Alfonso who produce organic wine, tomatoes and much more high up in the mountains of the Amalfi Coast. On their land I found many of the herbs I knew as a child and I started to collect them. I could also get fresh veggies there.

In 2010 I came back to Germany, back into my home town, which once was at "the end of the world", because 3 kms from there, there was the border between East and West Germany. If you never lived at such a border, you cannot really understand which feelings are there, when you know you cannot pass a certain line without stepping onto a landmine. Well ... now that I was back the border was open, no more mines ... but back to gardening: I thought about getting a small garden, a Schrebergarden, just like my parents had, but then life changed an in 2013 my family move to the place where we live now, just about 20 km away from the place I was born.

The apartment is up a mountain and the house owner allowed us to create a small garden and that is where I now grow quite a bit of food. I am far from being self sufficient, but after starting in 2014 with the first garden bed, I can produce some more year by year ... and still I see many more possibilities to grow crops for my family.

Here on my blog you will find articles for newbies, recipes and some more stuff.

Btw.: it's nice to meet you dear reader :-)