One of my biggest heartaches after The Reluctant Farmer and I parted ways was that I sold my Urban Farm. I not only lost the place that cultivated my heart, but in essence I lost my identity when I walked away from everything. You see, my gardens weren't just a hobby. They were a way of life. They were who I was. You don't sustain a family for 6-9 months of the year on the food you grow yourself and not put your entire heart and soul into it. At some point it surpasses being just a hobby and becomes a piece of you.
Ever since The Nurse and I bought our new place, I have had visions of a new garden dancing through my head. I measured, plotted, and planned like we were going into battle. The only problem was, the area I had plotted in my head for a future garden was right smack dab in the center of my backyard, and after already loosing a portion of our yard for 8 months due to regrading and tiling our backyard, I honestly just could not bear to loose anymore grass.
We have a narrow asphalt pad that runs next to our garage, so I thought about gardening in containers, but honestly it was almost an insult to where I had come from and what I was used to.
And then I had a vision......
Behind our garage was a 20ft X 20ft concrete basketball court. We were going to tear it up eventually, but it was going to be a project in the way distant future. The more I stared at that concrete square though, the more my vision came to fruition, and they next thing I knew, the first raised garden box was built, and then the second, and the third, and... and.... and...
I don't have nearly the space I had before, and I miss my chickens and meat rabbits, but it will come. My goal is to work my garden this year, and possibly add some rabbits before winter. I want to put food away, and say goodbye to the grocery store where I can.
This will be a year of learning though, because I have never planted on concrete, but grow where you are planted, right?! Even if I don't eat anything from this garden, having dirt under my fingernails again has returned me to a place I have missed terribly. A place I thought I could forget, yet a place my heart demanded I return to. God, am I grateful to cultivate again!
