We fixed up a room, in the front of the house for my hair salon. That was my profession, and we decided I would continue, while we fixed up the house and put down roots, literally. I cut hair three times a week, and filled all of my spare time establishing my gardens.
It started as a hobby, really. I loved to garden, and we have all of this extremely fertile land. It was a perfect combination. I dug right in. When I first started the gardens I had a large perennial bed. That was for picking and drying flowers, for arrangements. Then, of course, I had a pretty big vegetable garden.
>From the beginning, I decided that my gardens were going to be totally organic. That meant a little more work, and ingenuity. But for me, it is the only way to go. My gardens have been certified organic. This was no small feat. The certification process is a rigorous one. But my gardens made it. One of my goals is to live as naturally as possible. I think we do a pretty good job at it.
There is a Livestock Auction house next door. We are "visited", from time to time, by wayward cow or two. We have spent plenty of time chasing them away from the gardens. Our chicken coop grows with escapees from next door. We could have eighteen chickens one day, and twenty eight the next. There's rarely a dull moment around here.
We have a pond, out back. There is always something going on there. From the beautiful water grasses and plants, to the Blue heron that visits in the summer. It's great for the ducks, and at sun down, the bats put on quite a show. They skim the water for their buggy diner. They look so graceful, you forget that they are bats.
Out back of the house was a sloping hill. I put in some raised beds, descending downward, and started my first herb garden. As the herbs grew, so did my fascination with them. As I read up on them I grew even more enthralled in What herbs could do. I bought books, and read all about them. The more I read, The more I wanted to learn.
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