Garden ‘26
My first memories of gardening were watching my grandparents tend to their flowers, vegetables, and blackberries - YUM. Then I went on to watch, and sometimes help, my parents garden at their property. I always loved how much more flavorful garden vegetables tasted compared to the store-bought vegetables. When I moved to Tennessee, I worked on a produce farm called Bloomsbury Farm. I learned so much about growing and harvesting there.
After I left Bloomsbury in 2020, I took a whack at gardening in my own backyard. I started everything from seed and I absolutely loved it, minus dealing with the excessive amounts of squirrels in East Nashville. From there, I even went on to own and operate a cut flower farm on a couple of acres with another woman for two years. I have learned that I definitely prefer smaller scale gardening. It’s more fun that way - not so much pressure!
This year I decided to only plant and maintain a garden at Brett’s Barn where I work. I don’t really have the time or energy to juggle both a garden at my house and the barn this year. But, I am really excited about how well the garden at the barn is doing. My friend and co-worker, Adriana, has worked with me on Brett’s Garden the past two years. We have had a blast doing it. Might I add… we really went heavy on the tomatoes this year - haha.
Last year when I decided to start a garden at Brett’s Barn, I wanted to make sure and find some nice looking black raised beds to match the theme of the barn and chicken coop, which are both black and white. So, after searching on amazon, I found these metal Raised Garden Beds. I am really happy with how well they have worked and how much they have kept their color and shine throughout the different seasons.
Adriana and I layered the first quarter bottom of the beds with some straw, sticks, and cardboard so that we wouldn’t have to spend as much on soil because the beds are deep. Then we filled the beds to full with Organic Plus Raised Bed & Potting Mix by Kellogg.
In years past I have started my garden from seed because it’s definitely more cost effective and rewarding (so many cool seeds to pick from), but it also takes a lot of time. Since I juggle a few jobs right now, I decided to cut down on the time that it takes to start from seed. The last two years Adriana and I have just gotten starter vegetables, herbs, and flowers from Hewitt Garden Center (Franklin, TN), Bates Nursery (Nashville), and Home Depot. I have found that this works better for me at this time in my life, but if you have the time to start from seed, it is a great option!
We already had some perennials in the garden from last year - three rose bushes, pink icing blueberries, and several tasty herbs. From there we added eight tomato plant varieties, some of them being the Black Cherry tomatoes, Cherokee Purple Heirloom tomatoes, Green Zebra tomatoes, and Better Boy tomatoes. We also planted jalapeños and banana peppers for a little kick.
As for the herbs, we go to town on those babies. We planted rosemary, thyme, cilantro, curly and flat parsley, lemon and purple basil, marjoram, oregano, dill, chives, sage, chamomile, and lemon balm. I love adding herbs to every meal. They are nutritional powerhouses and they add so much flavor to any dish.
When it comes to color, we like a lot. So they flower game is strong in Brett’s garden. Adriana and I especially love dahlias, so we plant a lot of those. We also added daisies, hibiscus. sunflowers, geraniums, lantanas, petunias, hydrangeas, and cosmos. Right now we have tomatoes, peppers, and herbs coming out of our behind!
We also planted several different types of sweet potatoes. They are in bags behind the barn in full sun until they are ready to harvest in the fall. We eat a lot of sweet potatoes, and I especially love the purple sweet potatoes. So I am jacked about those, for sure. The varieties we planted are Okinawan, Purple Passion, Murasaki, and Carolina Ruby. Can’t wait!
Gardening can seem overwhelming at first, especially if you’ve never done it before. So my advice would be to start small. It’s not too late in the season to start now. Simply begin with a couple of flower pots and maybe a small planter box of herbs. Once you conquer that, I bet you’ll be inspired to try a bit more the next year. And if not, thats ok too! :)
Happy gardening!
