Dear Fellow Gardener,

Can you imagine eating freshly picked, perfectly ripe tomatoes, warmed by the sun and grown in your own garden? Every year, this vision of culinary perfection is a reality for many gardeners. I personally cannot imagine going without! 

Each spring, our family goes through the ritual of loosening the soil of our gardens and preparing containers in order to transplant, seed, and generally encourage the growth of what will soon become a productive and beautiful garden. In the past, we have had the luxury of choosing from our own greenhouse-grown, certified organic vegetable and herb seedlings. The experience is no small delight for children and adults alike. From scarlet runner beans to sweet onions, we started them in our greenhouse with untreated seed and organic soil, later to transplant them into our home garden. This year will be a little different.

We no longer live on the picturesque acreage situated along the lovely and serene Rainy River. Instead, we have brought our family and seeds to the city! Our small yard (0.15 acres including the house and driveway) is not even landscaped yet, leaving us with full creative possibilities. We can already see where the new gardens and trellises will be. We have been planning with excitement the ways we will produce enough potatoes, beans, carrots, tomatoes, and onions to last the year from such a small plot. The garden must be pretty as well as functional so we are going to make the most of the space with a carefully placed decorative and useful fence that will serve as a backdrop for beautiful flowers, vines, and shrubs as well as climbing vegetables and grapes. Come spring, we will add the pièce de résistance: our new Hartley Botanic greenhouse!!!

How we long to get back into the garden as we wait for winter to pass. The 2010 season promises to be a year of change that we eagerly anticipate. We welcome all you new and weathered gardeners to join us in the adventure of becoming urban farmers. You don’t need a big yard; even a balcony is enough to enter into the journey of generations past by growing some of your own food. Get outside. Get inspired. Get growing!

Best wishes for 2010!

The Ploegman Family