I had some flowers and a small pond downstate. I was really able to get into my gardening when we first moved to our northern home 3 years ago. I brought up all my flowers that I could, and put them in a little area I was going to call my garden. Now 3 years later I have moved the flowers all around the sides of the house. And my once small space is now our large vegetable garden. I also enjoy my greenhouse. My project for winter will be wintersowing in containers. I can't wait to see what kind of flowers I'll have in the spring. My question: When did you first become interested in gardening?
When I was 4. Grandma handed me a packet of seed, a hoe, instructions, and loving oversight in an area behind the barn. When I went to visit Grandma later and pulled a skinny, multi-legged carrot out of the dirt (and ate it right there), I was hooked!
I believe I was about four too. My grandmothers were both avid gardeners and let me participate in their ventures. When I was nine my mother gave me a space to call my own, where I had strawberries, crocus, daffodils and some violas.
Yep, I was at my grampa's knee when I first fell in love with gardening, so also about 3-4 years old ( :-D when dinosaurs roamed the earth). He lived in urban Pittsburgh, PA, and managed to grow the most wonderful grapes, veggies and flowers all up and down the nearly vertical hillside behind his home. I'm not sure I was really very much help to him, but I loved feeling like I was helping and eating those juicy grapes by the handful!
Another one with a greenthumbed grandma here, though my mom was always babying houseplants and grew a few tomatoes and such here and there, it was grandma's amazing garden that showed me what a bit of planting could do. I remember my mom laughing when she visited my dorm room in college and found a seed-flat by the window with little maple trees growing in it. I'd planted a pocketful of maple spinners I'd gathered off of the sidewalk just to see if they would sprout, lol...
Well my mom's always kept our yard full of pretty flowers. When I was 8 she let me have my own flower box outside where I tortured some perennials for a few seasons. I've always kept a houseplant in my room. I couldn't have pets so instead I had Petey the Polka-dot Plant the and Minny the Mimosa. I've recently become interested in herbs and it's rekindled my desire to grow and not kill multiple plants. Though that's a bit tough with no yard.
My earliest memories of gardening are when I was about 5 years old helping my mom sow seeds in the vegetable garden. I bought my first house plant before I was 10, and had container gardens when I first moved out when I was 18.
As far back as I can remember ,my mum was always in the garden and always had me in tow ,we used to joke about how bad my dad was in the garden he only ever had one job to do and that was to plant some gladioli and some time later we found he had planted them upside down (more of a technical man ,my dad). G.
Thanks for your replies, I really enjoy hearing how most of us get our start into gardening. if you can't remember just when you got your start, then please let us know if there is something you'd do differant in your garden next year.
Petunia thanks for starting this topic, it seems many of us started gardening as little children. There is a similar topic from early last year that some of the newer members may have missed, thought you all might be interested in http://www.gardenstew.com/about1464.html Also, how about starting a new topic with your question "let us know if there is something you'd do different in your garden next year". That is a very interesting subject and it could just get lost at the end of this topic. I already have a good sized list of things to change next year and I expect many other members do too.
As soon as we could walk we were in the garden, we were required to work our garden and grandma's garden, I never minded. But my real love of gardening came from my Mom. I always helped her with her flowers. She was born crippled, but it never stopped her until recently. She still loves flowers, and I try to buy as many new varieties as I can afford to because she is so amazed at what is being done with them these days. When I think back to all she did when we were growing up with her physical disabilities I am amazed.
