Thinking Back...There's just something about fresh fruits and veggies...

When I was a young girl, I remember my parents and grandparents had gardens that seemed like magical places to me...One day the ground was bare, then the next day it was full of a variety of beautiful vibrant colors of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Those fruits and vegetables seemed to taste better than anything to me and it was so fun to go out and just pick something off the vine and eat it right there...DIRT and ALL! Yummy...

Obviously, I now realize that A LOT of work went into growing that garden, but I really never saw that except for a couple of times going out and pulling a few weeds from our strawberry patch.  I was always ready to help when it came time to pick strawberries and blueberries, but most of the time I would get side tracked by the juicy berries and most would never make it into my bowl for passing through my mouth first! I remember my dad telling me stories of when he was a boy and would go pick blackberries with my grandfather and they would hook a bucket on their overall straps so they could use both hands to pick.  Every now and then, my grandfather would ask my dad, "have you got your bottom covered?" (meaning the bottom of his bucket) but my dad would also be eating more berries off the vine than he would be putting in his bucket.  There's just something about fresh fruits and vegetables...Yummy...

A few times in my life when my dad had a good crop we would go with him on a Saturday morning down to the square in Ozark and sell our excess at the farmer's market...People seemed to flock to the market and it didn't seem to be a hard sell at all...We always sold out and it was SO much fun to "run our little business".  There's just something about fresh fruits and vegetables...Yummy...

With all the knowledge of gardening and farming surrounding me from my dad, Grandpa George (my mom's dad) and Grandad Schuenemann (Ryan's grandad) and Dean McGee (close family friend)...I have decided to put forth a really good effort in learning from them and growing our 1st BIG family garden this year.  The majority of people I have told so far have said, "Do you know how much work it's going to be?" To which I say...no, but I have a good idea of what to expect...BUT after this year of experience I will have a lot better idea. You may just start calling me a "PRO" after this year...Ha Ha!  Thank you for your positive support in this endeavor and I plan to document our experiences here if you are ever interested in stopping by to see our progress.

Here it is...Dad and I plotted it out and this year's garden will be 50' x 100'...You can't see much but it will be BEAUTIFUL!