Sharing what I know about gardening is my goal on Steemit. I have a gardening business down here (down under), at the bottom of the world in beautiful New Zealand. We do all things gardening e.g. growing, planting, pruning, you name it we probably do it. We love gardening!
Here’s a picture of me sitting at the very tip of New Zealand looking up toward America. The colour change in the water, just up from my foot, is where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean kiss their salty lips.
When I was a little girl, my parents and grandparents had large gardens that were capable of keeping the family in food throughout the year. I was allowed to help with some of the less important tasks. I raked out the ground and found sticks to mark the rows. I pulled the spent beans from the frames ready for next year. I placed the potatoes in the ground with their eyes facing up. I checked under the carrots to see if they were ready. I chased away the butterflies that left eggs on the cabbages. I would sneak in and eat the sun warmed strawberries, and take peas from pods.
I thought that was the norm. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I realised not everyone knew how to garden, they didn’t even know how to plant a seed, let alone how much water or sun it needed. People were always asking me to help them, and they wanted to pay me. I left my job and started a gardening business, which I’ve been running for thirteen years.
I have no formal training, except some papers I did in garden design to extend my knowledge. I have a Master’s degree in science, but that’s in psychology and another story altogether.
I have thousands of photos of plants and garden related things, and I also have over one hundred video clips of what we get up to on the job. Most of my photos are in New Zealand, but when I go overseas I also snap any neat plants I see. I love seeing what grows in different parts of the world and finding new ways of doing things.
My experience tells me there will be plenty of people in the Steemit community interested in plants, and no not just the “medicinal” kind.
It seems almost like we have some innate interest in plants based on a need to feed ourselves. I think the Steemit community will also have people, at this early stage anyway, who are interested in homesteading, or setting up gardens where they want to be largely self-sufficient, or maybe even right off the grid. I think I have information to share that will benefit these types of people. Of course, gardening isn’t just about food, and as this frangipani below shows, it can be rewarding simply because it’s beautiful.
My plan is to start with the basics and work outwards. I’ll probably have a bigger focus, to start with anyway, on the practical aspects of gardening relating to food, because I think that’s where the demand will be. However, I’m very adaptive (as all gardeners should be), and I’ll write about anything that people show a need for.
Oh and if you’re wondering what happened to the garden at my parents, well it’s still there. It got let go a bit last year when sadly Dad got very sick and died. Weeds flourished and rogue pumpkins ruled while we cared for Dad. However, Mum is back out there now and it’s slowly coming into shape. These days she even lets me help with some of the important jobs, like pruning the plums. I remind her that I actually garden for a job, but she pretends not to hear and points to the next branch.
I look forward to sharing and helping build the Steemit gardening community.
Carolyn
