From A Young Boy
Through my many years, I have perfected my gardening skills and expanded my knowledge and experience as a gardening instructor, speaker, author, certified nursery consultant, outdoor living specialist,
WEB site host and blogger.
I was introduced to gardening at the very early age of 8. I lived across the street from a man who gardened his little slice of heaven on about 5 acres of semi-rural property in Sacramento, California. Mr. May had everything from rose, vegetable, and flower gardens, to fruit and olive orchards. Mr. May was very accommodating to the little boy from across the street. I spent hours shadowing Mr. May around his place, asking questions, making mental notes and scurrying across the street to try my hand in my parent's anemic yard.
Eventually, I got so good at applying Mr. May's know-how that I won the consent of my Mother to tend her flower beds and my Dad gave me a vegetable garden plot in the corner of our backyard. I didn't know then that I was attracted to the science of the whole thing, but I could see the results and was very proud of the increase in blooms for my Mom, and the vegetable production that even I could appreciate as abundant. I was hooked.
High school and college left little time or opportunity to get in the dirt. But, I was rewarded and further encouraged by my biology and botany classes and next tried my hand at tending a garden underneath the high porch and stairs of our apartment in No. New Jersey. It all came back to me and when we finally had our first home I had my first garden plot as an adult. Some early setbacks and a hankering to be more at one with the earth led me to the disciplines and sacrifices of Bio-Intensive Organic Gardening. Yeah, I wore wingtips to work, but I had Birkenstocks in my heart as a young man
in the early 80s.
Today, I live on a "rock" in Rocklin, CA and my active gardening is restricted to raised beds ( even my lawn is a raised bed ) and patio containers. But, I do keep up with the latest trends in gardening, and most importantly, those homeowners new to the pleasures of gardening and older folks seeking to bring new successes to their outdoor living. As a Outdoor Living consultant,
I have developed a faithful following of young adults with first home responsibilities and opportunities; and retired men and women who now have the time, focus, and inclination to finally develop a better understanding of gardening and outdoor cooking. Knowledge, skills, and experiences that will widen the enjoyment of their landscapes, outdoor cooking. . . and patio living.