After facing various health challenges and not wanting all the pills recommended by conventional Western medicine, I sought to improve my health through nutrition. Realizing that the quality of my food is only fully in my control if I grow it myself, I decided to start a vegetable garden.

Taking that leap turned into a snowball effect. I attended local native plant classes and realized that our eco-region, the Blackland Prairie, is critically endangered as development has swallowed up the land. I felt the call to do what I could to both feed my household and the native critters outside. It became my goal to see how many pollinators I could attract to my yard. The day I found six monarch butterfly caterpillars in my garden, I rejoiced!

I’ve learned all the major garden lessons the hard way, and now I can help you fly through the learning curve and get to the enjoyment.

That said, gardening isn’t always an idyllic movie-like dream sequence. You’ll have to give yourself grace for mistakes and the forces of nature you are working around. You will also gain some grit pushing through those challenges and reaping the reward, especially in the predictably unpredictable weather of Texas.

It’s all completely worth it when you get to reap the result: creating a little bit of Eden in your corner of the world.

-Coach Chelsea