Hello to fellow organic enthusiasts!
I moved to Bixby, Mo in 2001 with the love of my life, Charles, to pursue the other love in my life, gardening. I had been working in IT, finding it terribly constrictive, then while reading some article the words, "If you love what you do, then it's not work". The only thing I could think of, is my dream of always having a little farm, and leaving the city and chaos behind.
Charles was retired so it gave me the opportunity I was looking for. We found this diamond in the rough, ten acres, nice home and garage, and fairly level ground. I dove right in and had no idea just HOW MUCH WORK it was, but I LOVED IT!
I experimented with many different techniques, tilling, double digging, composting, and lasagna gardening. I knew I had to build up to get the soil really healthy. All the resources that I needed, grass clippings, hay fields, dried leaves, God provided. I just had to learn how to put it all together. Each year it got better. By the end of the third year, I had a rich, loamy, fertile soil. Everything grew bigger and tasted better than anything I had grown before. I knew I was on to something.
I learned how micro-organisms break down the plant material, how worms bring up trace elements on their journey to feed on the layers I kept putting down, and aerate and fertilize the soil. I learned about good bugs and bad bugs, and companion planting and inter-planting, the importance of flowers to increase pollinators to the garden, and how tiling created more erosion. There was always something new to learn, a better way than before. And you know what? I'm still learning. Gardeners are like that - they love to share their successes and their failures.
In 2005 Charles was diagnosed with a terminal cancer, and I lost him just 7 months later. My son, Rory, was also battling bone cancer. It was a heart-wrenching experience watching them both fight so hard to hang on. I lost Rory, at age 21 in 2007. The weeds grew up and I was lost for a long time, but the gardens drew me slowly back to the living and the importance of what I do. Build the soil, plant a seed, nurture it, and it produces something good. I now appreciate life so much more than before. I appreciate my daughter and 2 beautiful grandsons, who come to stay in the summer and learn about where their food comes from. What we eat is so important to our health and well-being. There are so many known carcinogens in pesticides. It's the short cut to produce more. My ways take longer but the flavor and nutrition comes through.
I dedicate my gardens to Rory and Charles and know they are smiling down on me. To me it's personal - I want to share what I have learned and pass that goodness down to you and the ones you love. So CC Organics will be open in the spring and grows FoodFit4UrFam to KeepUrFamFit! Come out and visit, take a stroll on the Wildflower Walk and enjoy all of what life has to offer and see what's in season for your dinner table.
Nice to meet you,
Catherine
I moved to Bixby, Mo in 2001 with the love of my life, Charles, to pursue the other love in my life, gardening. I had been working in IT, finding it terribly constrictive, then while reading some article the words, "If you love what you do, then it's not work". The only thing I could think of, is my dream of always having a little farm, and leaving the city and chaos behind.
Charles was retired so it gave me the opportunity I was looking for. We found this diamond in the rough, ten acres, nice home and garage, and fairly level ground. I dove right in and had no idea just HOW MUCH WORK it was, but I LOVED IT!
I experimented with many different techniques, tilling, double digging, composting, and lasagna gardening. I knew I had to build up to get the soil really healthy. All the resources that I needed, grass clippings, hay fields, dried leaves, God provided. I just had to learn how to put it all together. Each year it got better. By the end of the third year, I had a rich, loamy, fertile soil. Everything grew bigger and tasted better than anything I had grown before. I knew I was on to something.
I learned how micro-organisms break down the plant material, how worms bring up trace elements on their journey to feed on the layers I kept putting down, and aerate and fertilize the soil. I learned about good bugs and bad bugs, and companion planting and inter-planting, the importance of flowers to increase pollinators to the garden, and how tiling created more erosion. There was always something new to learn, a better way than before. And you know what? I'm still learning. Gardeners are like that - they love to share their successes and their failures.
In 2005 Charles was diagnosed with a terminal cancer, and I lost him just 7 months later. My son, Rory, was also battling bone cancer. It was a heart-wrenching experience watching them both fight so hard to hang on. I lost Rory, at age 21 in 2007. The weeds grew up and I was lost for a long time, but the gardens drew me slowly back to the living and the importance of what I do. Build the soil, plant a seed, nurture it, and it produces something good. I now appreciate life so much more than before. I appreciate my daughter and 2 beautiful grandsons, who come to stay in the summer and learn about where their food comes from. What we eat is so important to our health and well-being. There are so many known carcinogens in pesticides. It's the short cut to produce more. My ways take longer but the flavor and nutrition comes through.
I dedicate my gardens to Rory and Charles and know they are smiling down on me. To me it's personal - I want to share what I have learned and pass that goodness down to you and the ones you love. So CC Organics will be open in the spring and grows FoodFit4UrFam to KeepUrFamFit! Come out and visit, take a stroll on the Wildflower Walk and enjoy all of what life has to offer and see what's in season for your dinner table.
Nice to meet you,
Catherine