divaqs's Profile

Some of my first memories are my fascination with growing things. I had my first garden when I was about 4 years old, when I started growing peas out of Styrofoam cups. By the time I was 12 I had my own garden in a corner of the family yard, where I grew rows of corn, wheat, peas, and about anything else I could find seed for out of the kitchen.

Nowadays, with my talented wife, I have turned my whole yard, of 1/2 of an acre, into a virtual garden as I fulfill my dream of landscaping with edibles.

I've found for myself that the returns on gardening are immense and extend much further than the wonderful fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers that I get. I find real solace and joy in my gardening, exercise that fulfills a more rewarding purpose than paying to go to a gym, family activity and socialization, intellectual stimulation as I continue to try learn more, and a sense of security as I intimately know the source of a portion of the food my family eats.

I firmly believe that having a home garden doesn't mean an ugly eye sore of trenches and rows of vegetables, but rather can be incorporated directly into a beautiful landscape design. For me, I've taken this to the extreme. In my yard, if it is not edible, it is a weed. Yet, I have in my opinion one of the most lovely yards in my neighborhood. My yard has [edible] flowers intermingled among [edible] evergreen and [edible] deciduous bushes or trees, with varieties of leaves and color all interlaced in a wonderful Japanesque style.

When I set out on a landscaping project I have 3 objectives:

1. It must incorporate edible plants
2. It must be attractive
3. It needs to be low maintenance

Feel free to take a look at my blog and see if something like this resonates with you.

Garden Blog Directory  

Strawberries
When it comes to berries, Strawberries are definitely one of my favorites. To me, a strawberry that has been ripened to ultimate sweetness is a heavenly experience. I used to think I would never have enough strawberries, that is, until...

Garden Stone Steps
In my yard and landscape I like having a balance between the wild of nature and an ordered structure to things. My favorite parts of my yard are the areas that are a little more on the wild side. I think of it as being a kind of structured chaos or J...

The Art of Ant Warfare
This weekend soaphouse asked me if I knew of any organic solutions to ants in veggies, which is a GREAT question! I love questions that get me to thinking and push me to learn more. Since I have an edible yard, where my kids have been encouraged t...

7 Random Things about Me
Yesterday I was very surprised and honored to see Marc at GardenDesk mention my blog in his, in which he invited me to participate in a blogging activity listing 7 random things about myself. I am relatively new to the whole gardening bloggernacle...

Sugar Snap Peas
Sugar peas are something I really enjoy growing in my garden and yard in both the spring and fall. I like the way that the pole varieties attach themselves to just about any structure and grow up it, making it possible to use them in a landscape ...