Since I was 18 years old I have lived in my own place, give or take a few months. I have always liked and appreciated nature especially when living in some of the apartment buildings when I had no balcony, or when the window was opened you could catch the downwind of the LTC or TTC bus zooming by. Which probably explains why I would always haul in a real Christmas tree every year, grow as many plants as possible, and even had my own indoor compost complete with ‘Vermi Worms’ who would kindly eat all of my scrap fruits and vegetables and turn them into nice soil. When my husband and I bought our first house I was so excited to have a ‘real garden’, have grass to walk on and occasionally clip a flower or two for the inside. However, this house was on a postage stamp size lot and after a few years, three kids later, we grew out of the house and the lot. I dreamed of having an actual vegetable garden and not just a pot of tomatoes, a cutting garden where I could have a steady supply of flowers or bouquets from May to October, and a separate herb garden for adding just the right flavor to all of my summer time cooking. Well, be careful what you wish for. It took us probably 5 years to shape the gardens into what we wanted, built protective boxes to keep out the critters, add yards and yards of much to keep the weeds at bay then there is the nightly watering for almost 3 months. Remember when I said that I appreciated nature…well I do, but not when it’s eating me alive…literally!! But just when I tire of all the hard work in the garden, it goes to sleep for a few months. Then April roles around and again everything starts popping to life! I love being able to pick and cut flowers weekly, I love saving so much money on produce because I’m growing my own, and I also take real pride in all of my hard work and reap its rewards. So, get out there wherever you are and enjoy for before not too long we’ll be composting those pumpkins and bracing ourselves for another winter.