For years, I wanted to grow my own vegetables but didn't know where to start. I felt I should be able to figure it out myself and was hesitant to ask A Backyard Farm for help, but I'm so glad I did. From the beginning, Joan and Coleen made us feel we were part of a community of backyard growers. Each week they passed along the knowledge they've gained over years of tending their own organic gardens so that by the end of the season we were prepared to carry on independently.

Beyond their role as gardening mentors, Joan and Coleen became friends as the summer progressed. Our kids looked forward to seeing the "Garden Lady" each week and had fun learning about vegetables and playing games with Joan. Hard as they tried, they never exhausted her.

If you have even an inkling of interest in growing your own vegetables, I highly recommend talking with Joan and Coleen about how A Backyard Farm can help you get started.

Dick:

Thanks to A Backyard Farm, our household consumption of ibuprofen has been reduced.

Jayne:

The thrill of the first ripe tomato and the sweet agony of an overabundance of green beans...these are mine because of A Backyard Farm! I reap all the benefits of the garden without the work and worry.

Lily:

Our friends from A Backyard Farm let me pitch in and learn everything important about gardening. I help with so many things, from the most obvious (squirrel and bunny patrol) to the least likely in the canine world (carrot thinning, sugar snap pea testing, and cherry tomato tossing). Since they've covered all the hard work of digging, I also try to help by opening the cooler. But probably my most important task is to keep the humans entertained, since everyone knows that happy farmers grow better veggies. I do my best, and the results are very rewarding!

We’ve been enjoying farmer’s markets and CSAs for at least a decade, but four years ago we made the move to truly local foods by joining A Backyard Farm. I must confess we did this after a few failed seasons of attempting to self-garden. In the same space we managed to grow a few tomato plants, some basil, and some pathetic attempts at corn, squash, okra Coleen and Joan created three raised beds and six months worth of fantastic fruits and veggies. They also made sure the soil for the beds was organic and pH balanced; our rocky soil has unsafe levels of arsenic, lead, and creosote from the adjacent railroad and old building materials.

Every week we had more than we could consume, so we became skilled in the arts of canning, freezing, and drying. I’m writing this in February, and we still have potatoes, winter squash and onions in the crisper, a freezer filled with greens, and cans of pickled green beans and stewed tomatoes and zucchini in the pantry. I love that unlike a CSA, we can pick what we’re partial to. No one in the family eats cucumbers, but I think there’s no upper limit to the amount of grilled eggplant, strawberries or Swiss chard we could eat. I’ve also really loved seeing my daughter, now two, grow with the garden. We made all her baby food from our garden, and she delighted in playing with stalks of kale and chard. Whenever we walked by the garden, we snacked directly from the strawberries and raspberries, and this spring, I’m sure she’ll delight in helping us find, prepare, and cook green beans, peas and carrots. We love A Backyard Farm!