The older I get, the smaller my gardens have gotten. Many (!) years ago I had a half acre sustaining garden and canned and froze much of my family’s needs. I baked our bread and sewed much of our clothing so I was a real back-to-the-earth kind of person. First a change in location, then a change in family status also changed my garden habits. Between then and now I gardened in raised beds with a small cold-frame type greenhouse to extend the season at both ends. More changes in lifestyle and life and, after several years of being the bystander to another family member’s gardening, last summer, I took the economic plunge and got a Smart Garden 3. I’ve had great success and while not growing the family’s produce, I do get enough “crops” for us to enjoy the fruits of my not-so-much labor and certainly to enjoy the process. My latest is to use the experimental pods to start my Big Beef tomato seed in anticipation of outdoor planting a bit later in the season. So far, the germination has been spectacular (fast and complete germination) and I’m ready to thin as soon as I see the “real” leaves. The trick, as I see it, will be to keep them bushy enough to wait for outdoor planting.

I’m sure you’re glad you “asked”!