Vegetable Garden Tour 2014 (and Some History Behind “Deep Rooted Wellness”)

When I started my health coaching business I wanted a business name that encompassed my passion for not only eating well, but also for growing good food. It’s my belief that a variety of positive changes in health can occur when you connect yourself to the earth and the sustenance that it provides. There are a number of ways that you can accomplish this, but for me, I do it through gardening. I find my wellness in deep roots, hence the name “Deep Rooted Wellness.”

Now for the history…

I started college 3yrs after I had graduated high school. In those 3yrs I traveled and bounced around from job to job, and finally found that I felt most at home working in landscaping and at a garden center. This realization brought me to Appalachian State University (Boone, NC) where I graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Biology. I focused on studying the interactions between plants, soil and fungi. I was totally into it (and still am). I worked in a soils lab for Dr. Melany Fisk, one of the most well-known scientists in her field. In addition to working in the lab, I took on a number of independent research projects, including an NSF-funded project that took place outside of Boulder, CO. I’m telling ya, I was a soil geek. Glamorous, huh?

I later enrolled in grad school at Georgia Southern University and did a bit of floundering till I found the Master’s of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences program. The program had plenty of science, but it was science with a human-centered purpose. I loved the idea. And then I got a killer graduate assistantship at the Georgia Southern Botanical Garden (now renamed the Garden of the Coastal Plains) for which I managed a vegetable garden that was used to educate children, college students and adults of varying backgrounds about organic vegetable production, and of course, the important role of healthful eating.

As my studies continued, I learned the incredibly important role of healthful eating related to human development, immunity, toxic exposures, and even its role in environmental preservation. The more I learned, the more passionate I felt about using my knowledge of plants and soil to grow good food and spread the word through gardening education.

Long story short…

I LOVE THINGS THAT GROW IN THE GROUND I AND I LOVE TO EAT FRESH VEGETABLES!!!

I feel like I could just sing that from my roof top, but all of Randolph would then think of me as the crazy gardener. (Is that such a bad thing?) Gardening connects me to the land, allows me to use my brain in a scientific yet intuitive way, provides me with a fulfilling past time, provides food for my family, and allows me to express my creativity through both garden design and meal preparation.

So without further adieu, allow me to introduce my garden. These photos are a little old (taken in early to mid-July), but you get the idea. This is also my first year in this plot, so you can expect bigger and better things for next year!

Here she is! Most of her anyways. There are a few more beds out front. A side view of the area growing tomatoes, melons, winter squash and blueberries. You can also see 1 of 3 rows of raspberries to the far right of the house. A closer view of the other side of the garden. I removed a number of perennials from the front beds in order to make more space for veggies. Despite having added a couple of wheel barrow loads of compost, the soil quality is quite poor and I’ve had very low yields from these beds. More compost next year! The previous owners of the house kept their chickens in this area. As you can see, these beds were incredibly fertile! I only planted 5 or 6 nasturtiums and they’ve completely taken over! Photos cannot do these bad boys justice. We have 7 large bushes, have been eating GALLONS of blueberries and there’s another 4.5 gallons frozen for the winter. One of my 10 broccoli plants. This particular plant was an early producer that I started from seed back in March. This Suyo cucumber variety has been a heavy producer of 12″ – 16″ long cukes that come in some pretty crazy shapes. My other variety of lemon cucumbers are quite possibly the ugliest little things you’ve ever seen, but also the most delicious. 🙂 What’s the dill? I mean seriously, how did sooo many dill plants come up from seed? A “landscaped” section adorning some beautiful purple cabbages. Sunflowers from seed and as volunteers border the garden in a variety of locations. More flowers = more pollinators = more fruit! I have 16 tomatoes plants that are PACKED full of tomatoes. The secret is to heavily prune the suckers from your tomatoes. I don’t let my tomatoes get more than 2 branches per plant. You can also see some basil sticking out from between plants. The two are supposedly companion plants. See how many clusters each plant has? It’s the heavy pruning… These are what I’m most excited about – baby watermelons! I’ve eaten just one so far (there are another 5 ripening) and they’re actually a yellow variety with a pink interior, which is pretty cool. The vines are starting to die back which is the indicator that they’re ready to eat. I also have somewhere around 6 cantaloupes. And finally, an afternoon’s harvest. As you can see, we’ve been buying very few vegetables this summer. It feels pretty amazing to be growing, eating, and storing our own organic produce.