The Backyard Garden Dream

So! Let me just reiterate again how lucky I feel to be able to have my own organic garden of considerable size (even if not of considerable sun) in my own backyard!

This project has been a dream in the works for the last five years now. I became interested in gardening after coming back to Madison, WI after living in Turkey for five years and realizing the vast discrepancy in availability of high quality fresh fruits and vegetables. To give you some idea of the vast quantities available, it was unheard of to buy one or two or even five of anything at a Turkish fresh food market. Alas, you do not buy your produce there by the number, but by the pound. Every crop has their own seller. If you frequent the same market often, you get to know the sellers and the quality of their produce. Often, though, the first twenty minutes of the shopping trip can be spent walking the aisles of the large open air market to find where you will buy each of your specialties. Interspersed are the vendors of other essential items. The guy selling underwear by wearing it on his head, standing on a table and yelling at customers was definitely one of my favorites. Though over time, I definitely stopped noticing him. I guess we can get used to anything.

So anyway, when I moved to Madison, the woman in the apartment across from mine (in the same building) just happened to belong to a local community garden (link takes you to the Community Action Coalition to find a community garden in Madison that you can be a part of). I was eager to reproduce the tomatoes of turkey after tasting the available produce in the U.S. She was very helpful and shared a lot of information on permaculture and composting as well as green manures. Because I had an 8 month old at the time and the garden was 3 miles, I couldn't invest as much time or energy in the garden as I wanted. I stayed with this community garden for 3 years. When I had my son, I could no longer keep up and gave up my plot.

Last year I was divorced. And while, yes, in many ways this is very sad, one benefit is that I was able to move to an apartment with a huge backyard for gardening, with a landlord who doesn't spray pesticides and many weekends to tend to the garden. I am so excited for my kids and myself to be able to harvest from their own backyard garden.

I am also looking forward to sharing information with other urban Madison gardeners through this blog. I haven't found a lot by way of blogs from urban gardeners in the Midwest. I am hoping to be able to help others along in their own gardens in much the same way my neighbor helped me.

Let's hope the tomatoes taste as great as Turkey's!!!