I Beg Your Pardon, I Never Promised You a Foogs Garden

[Rachel Elsberry]

My grandmother had a green thumb. No matter what she planted, it sprouted, blossomed and bloomed. When I was a child, her backyard, just south of Detroit, was a wonderland of flowers and fruit trees. It made my Michigan summers at her house all the more magical. I still think of her every time I see Snap Dragons. She taught me how to pinch the little flowers off the stems, open them up and attach them to my ears to make earrings. Kids think that kind of stuff is so cool. I certainly did. I still do. Nature-made earrings!

When she grew older and had to move into a complex for senior citizens, she had little to no yard. It did not stop her desire to grow things or derail her abilities to do so. She grew tomatoes in giant planters and shared a little plot in the complex with some of the other residents that they filled with flowers and tended together. They were a wealth of knowledge on how to grow things. Their little garden kept them active, fostered their sense of community and attracted lots of butterflies. The senior citizen complex gossip was also shared and consumed over that plot of earth every spring and summer. Trust me, there’s more to gossip about over the garden in a senior citizen complex than you might think. A lot like high school with gray hair, hip replacements and cats. Lots of cats.

I had always hoped to have a backyard full of flowers like the one where I spent my Michigan childhood summers. I also hoped to acquire my grandmother’s green thumb. When I bought my own home four years ago, I certainly made an attempt. Actually, it was more than an attempt. I went gangbusters buying and planting plants. I did this every spring for a few years and every year, I failed miserably at my attempts to become a gardener and probably wasted hundreds of dollars on plants doomed to die in my yard. Wow, you actually have to water those little things more than once a month. Last year, I think I actually grew one edible tomato.

This spring, things have shifted and I owe it all to my Foogs garden. The folks from Foogs came out on March 31, 2010, and installed one of their gorgeous raised beds handcrafted by Tom Butler. His fabulous daughter Rachel picked out all the plants to be planted in my bed: tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and peppers. Rachel has become Austin’s coolest gardening chick and she is a wealth of knowledge. She’d have been right at home in the senior citizen complex with her moxy.

Foogs Founder Ty Mellon brought out all three of his little blonde Mellons to dig in the dirt and put plants in place. One of them even found a weed growing elsewhere in my yard, removed it and asked what I would like done with it. Children see things we don’t. Maybe it’s because they are closer to the earth not just in height.

When the garden was all in place, planted, watered and everyone from Foogs was set to leave, I remember saying out loud, “I hope I can keep this thing alive.” I was on my own now with a garden. It felt a lot like having a new baby at home alone for the first time. I must admit I doubted my ability to grow this thing. The next day, I decided I couldn’t let it die. It had to happen and so my Foogs journey officially began.

Since my Foogs garden was planted, my boyfriend and I have installed other raised beds we built on our own. We now have corn, eggplants, cantaloupes, watermelons and herbs of every kind. Last week, we planted potatoes. My Foogs garden gave me the gentle nudge I needed to continue my grandmother’s legacy. As you can see from the photo, the garden, now six weeks old, is more than thriving.

My friend Bill Norton turned me on to Foogs when he teamed up with Ty. At the time, I am convinced Bill teamed up with Ty because he saw an opportunity. Bill is the ultimate entrepreneur and is one of the biggest idea people I know. He’s also someone I’d have hardly considered a conservationist or tree hugger. I’ll never forget our trip to a store together in the middle of July several summers ago when gas prices were close to the four-dollar mark. Bill decided to leave the car running for 30 minutes while we went inside to look at light fixtures. He wanted the car to be cool when we returned to it.

However, Bill is now what I call a Foogie and I doubt he leaves the car running these days. He’s also embraced the idea of growing your own, organic food and sharing it with your neighbors, not only because it’s good business, but because it’s just good. Food tastes better when you’ve grown it yourself. It’s peppered with hints of your heart and soul.

Finally, I’ve shared my Foogs journey on facebook and with the friends from Foogs who helped me plant it. I think it’s inspired some folks to get gardening. At least, I hope so. My garden has also fostered a sense of community and my boyfriend and I certainly gossip over it as we tend to it. My cat also loves being in the yard with me while I work in the garden.

My grandmother taught me that when you have space, you should grow things. She also taught me that it doesn’t take a lot of space to grow things. There is great satisfaction in doing so. But, mostly, anyone can acquire a green thumb. All it takes is a little inspiration, WATER, lots of WATER, maybe a cat and a dash of gossip and friendship thrown in for good measure.

[Allison Lambert Hughart]

what a great story! my dad was a real farmer growing up and enjoyed planting a garden no matter where he lived. i learned so much from him about gardening and enjoying the benefits of your own produce! GO DAD! :0) oh and bill, no he didn't plant in new orleans, while i attended ganus, we had some land in MS where we went almost every weekend so he could get back to nature. i thought you might wonder about that one! lol.

[Ty Mellon]

Wonderful post Rachel!!

[Rachel Elsberry]

Hey Bill,
I'm not complaining. I, too, enjoyed the air-conditioned car upon return to it. ;-) Ha! Ha!

[Bill Norton]

Rachel Elsberry - GREAT POST! Thanks for the kind words and what a huge garden you have now. Thanks for contributing to the Foogs community! ...and for the record it was 103 degrees that day : )