On today’s Countdown!
Amber and I have known each other since grade school! From spending endless hours in the art studio in middle school, to now trading cuttings and special plants when we see each other – having friendships that grow and change is truly priceless!
Make sure to check out Laura and Stacey‘s stories from earlier this week!
Amber Lutz
“My passion for plants and gardening started as a child. Some of my fondest childhood memories were gardening in a small plot and foraging for wild blackberries with my grandfather. I have kept a garden or at least grown in containers just about every summer of my adult life. I could go on for hours about why I do it and the benefits of growing your own food, honestly the list is endless but I’ll stick to my top few:
1. Gardening is therapeutic. It keeps you grounded, connects you to nature and it’s good for the soul. Interesting enough, there have been scientific studies done that show getting your hands in the soil can increase serotonin levels when humans come in contact with specific soil bacteria.
2. The satisfaction of seeing months of work turn into a bountiful harvest and then being able to share your harvest with family and friends. Also, store bought produce just doesn’t even compare to fresh picked veggies and fruits from the garden. The End.
3. Gardening is my favorite form of exercise! You’re constantly in motion whether we are talking about the less strenuous tasks like weeding, raking or the more difficult duties like hauling bags of soil or mulch.
This year we are getting rid of our 14’ x 8’ garden plot and building raised beds. Last year we had quite a few mishaps when it came to fungal and pest problems. I’m hoping the raised beds will provide better drainage to prevent sitting water which encouraged our fungal growth and I also decided to implement a crop rotation plan into my new garden beds to hopefully tackle the pest issues -I’m talking to you squash bugs!!
I’d like to add some fruit trees and more berry bushes to our property this year. I already have some new additions to the herb garden this spring which include creeping mint, pineapple sage, lemon verbena and Egyptian onions. Currently growing chamomile, catnip and dill from seed.
Our 2020 raised garden beds will include but are not limited to: yellow pear tomatoes, red cherry tomatoes, big boy hybrid tomatoes, orange sun sweet peppers, yellow banana peppers, jalapeño peppers, green peppers, black beauty zucchini, early long eggplant, pickling cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, variety of lettuce mixes, spinach, Jack o lantern pumpkins and Casper pumpkins.
My favorite advice to give newer gardeners is not give up after a bad season. There are never gardening mistakes, just experiments. Here’s to a hopeful and exciting summer garden.”
Amber Lutz
