About

My Journey in the Garden.

Helping you grow your own backyard food Garden in the challenging phoenix, arizona region.

Hi, I’m Aaron!  I moved to the Valley of the Sun in 2001.  In 2003 when I finally had a backyard to call my own, I found a random pack of tomato seeds and figured I should plant them. I knew nothing about growing vegetables, so I called my dad who grew up on a Nebraska farm and asked him what to do. He said, “Add manure to the soil.” So believing I was armed with everything I needed to grow crops, I tilled the soil, added manure, planted the seeds, and watered them regularly.” 

vine tomatoes, tomatoes, red-3264282.jpg
tomato, shoots, plant-3919426.jpg

You know what? They grew GREAT!  I had tomatoes coming out my ears. Clearly at this point I knew I was the best gardener ever.  This delusion was quickly smashed as I continued to kill everything I planted in the future.  I finally concluded nothing could grow in Phoenix, especially in the summer.  I gave up the backyard gardening lifestyle for almost a decade when one day I figured I should try it again.

Fast forward to 2016 – New beginnings:

My full time job is being a firefighter (between calls, training, station duties, and whatever else comes our way) we usually try and solve the worlds problems around the dinner table.

I brought up the fact that I was a failed backyard farmer, but still wanted to have a backyard garden.  One of the guys suggested I try Square Foot Gardening.  Remembering my last failed attempt at being a gardener, this time I figured I would actually do some research and not wing it.  I watched about every YouYube video out there, grabbed some wood, and made myself a 4 foot by 4 foot veggie garden.

Square Foot Garden, Just seedlings. October 2016
Square Foot Garden, October 2016
Square Foot Garden. The seedlings have grown. November 2016
Square Foot Garden, November 2016

I was thrilled that once again I was a semi-successful gardener! As time went on, I built more 4’x4′ boxes and learned a ton of lessons through Trial and Error.  This was all fine and dandy until Covid hit in 2020.

March of 2020, when we all learned we need a garden:

They locked us in and told us to isolate unless it was for work.  This led to “idle hands” and “cabin fever”.  So what is a guy supposed to do with all that pent up energy?  Clearly build a ridiculously big raised garden bed!  The construction took two days.  Filling it all up with soil and plants took much longer 🙂

The Raw Material
Day 1 Progress
Day 2 Progress
Several Months down the line.

As it turned out, I was extremely happy to have this extra garden space.  2020 threw us for a loop and we learned that some things we take for granted (like food) can run out pretty quick.  There is something comforting about knowing you can grow some of your own food.

Where did all the food go?

July of 2023:

Since 2016 I have learned two things.  First, finding information on how to garden here in the Valley is very difficult.  Second, I love to garden.

I have taken the time since 2016 to read articles, watch videos and talk with knowledgeable people.  I continue to experiment and try new things in my own garden. From that I have learned some of what seems to work well in Phoenix, AZ (and also what does not). I will continue to learn and grow so that I can share my knowledge with all of you.

My end goal is to create a site where Gardeners who live in the Phoenix area will have a place to go to and find the info they need to grow their own amazing vegetable gardens.

Get out and Garden!

2016 - Rome, Italy.

Products and Organizations that I like

I promise, as this site develops, I will add to the list of products/organizations that I find helpful in the garden.  Check back often.