Introductions

So this is my first attempt at starting a new blog. I am setting this up to share with you my journey into the world of gardening. Hopefully we can all learn something from one another along the way. I do not have a history or extensive background on the subject but I do have a strong desire and curiosity about nature as a whole.  I am calling this site my "Micro Garland Garden Experiment". The "Micro" part is because I have only a very limited space in which to work the ground. Somewhere around 3000 SqFt of space. Note to self, I need to measure to confirm. The "Garland" part is because, well you guessed it I live in Garland, Texas. The "Garden" part is self explanatory although the term "garden" can mean lots of things to lots of people. More on this later. And lastly the "Experiment" part. I am inquisitive by nature and have a scientific background so I set out on this journey more as a way to quench my thirst for knowledge about a topic that involves multiple scientific elements. What could be more amazing than understanding the cycle of life and nature that surrounds us on a daily basis? That and a slight case of OCD have compelled me to turn my micro yard into a sort of giant mad scientists test tube. Lets see how far down the rabbit hole goes! I cant say that this journey is purely scientific as there is a certain amount of joy that I get from being outside and working in the dirt and feeling the sun on my face (except in the heat of summer).

This all started in the spring of 2011. We had only been in our house a couple of years and I had gone the traditional route of planting a few items from the nursery into our small yard only to have them killed by the brutal Texas summer. Also having gone through what was to me a very cold winter I realized that North Texas was a harsh environment with wide extremes between the seasons. See, I am originally from South Louisiana and although it does get hot and muggy in the summer and cold in the winter it is nothing like the back to back 100+ days of Texas summer heat and freezing snowy days of winter. I had never even really been in snow much before going through a North Texas winter. In fact if you had asked me before moving here, I would never have thought that it would actually get as cold as it does. Its not Colorado mind you but then again Colorado does not have to deal with 100+ degree summers either. Well long story short I lost lots of plants. I decided at that point that if I was going to plant anything again that I needed to learn more about how to do it properly and secondly I wanted to plant something that was going to give me something back! It must earn its keep. How can a plant do that you may ask? Well, there are multiple ways. They can provide you with teas, medicine, and food to name a few. That last point has become one of my mantras and focal points. From that time forward, everything that I have planted has to give me something in return for the time and care I provide for it. That may sound greedy and shallow at first but think about that comment for a moment. Why would you spend your hard earned money and time to plant something that just sits there and does nothing? What does that nice manicured yard do for you? Is it to impress the neighbors? To what end does that serve? It costs money to make the yard look that nice. If you are going to dump the money into it then doesn't it make sense to try to get something of value back out of it? There is nothing wrong with planting a majestic Oak tree in your yard but if you are going to plant something why not consider some type of fruit or nut tree instead? This concept of give and take with the landscape is what helped to start me on this journey and I would like to take this opportunity to share with you what I have learned along the way and to also learn from your own experiences.