Hi GPODers!
A couple of weeks ago we got to see how Mark Montgelas grows a wonderful assortment of food and flowers in the northeast (Mark’s Ornamental Vegetable Garden in Vermont), and today we get to see how Dawn Fountain does the same in the opposite corner of the US, at her home in Surprise, Arizona. Dawn sent in a beautiful description of her garden experience, her existing beds, and all of the joy she gets from this rewarding hobby, so I will let her take it away:
I have been gardening since 1994. I have always had a small garden—a couple of plants—just for something to do with my neighbor.
When I married my husband 18 years ago, he helped build me a ‘huge’ garden that went around the whole back wall of our house. Unfortunately, I became allergic to just about everything back there and it scared me off gardening for a while.
In April 2024, we moved back out to Arizona (we now live in Surprise, AZ) and instantly I saw lots of room. The whole back yard, in true Arizona style, is usually rocks. My husband jumped into action and built me raised beds. He also put a little fence around a small area so I could have a memorial garden for my grandparents and parents.
NOW I grow herbs (basil, rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley, oregano, stevia). My basil plants grew to 5+ feet tall so, with so much—along with the other herbs and things I grow—I have become interested in making infused oils and honeys. Basil (or mixed herbed) oil is my favorite to cook with. I love serving my dinners with freshly made herbed breads and butters. ALSO infused honey—rose (yes, the flower) is the best!!!! My family loves it.
I have a butterfly garden and sunflowers. In there I have lavender – which makes really good honey too.
Dawn’s sunflower garden with a matching metal sunflower and a happy gnome guarding her cheerful blooms.
I even have house plants and my favorite thing to do is to cut roses and flowers from my garden and have a mini garden inside.
In my main garden I have corn, carrots, beets, strawberries, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes (2 kinds – they grew 6 ft tall), basil, mustard greens, lettuce, kale, onions, stevia, cucumbers, parsley, spinach, cilantro, peppers, 3 types of mint…
I also have a few other plants – blueberries, blackberries, avocado tree, lemon tree, orange tree. I just got a planter built where I will start a spring flower garden. I love sitting at my dining room table and seeing the bees and hummingbirds enjoy the feeders. I also have cilantro and 5 types of roses.
When I go out back to get some green for dinner – my husband calls it ‘shopping’. LOL
A closer look at all those beautiful greens that Dawn grows, including the absolutely massive basil plants on the right!
My garden is where I go to be alone, where I am the happiest, and where I find my true peace.
My grandson loves coming over and ‘snack’ through my garden. He loved the day he came over and he and his sister got to pick out of my garden. She got to eat the carrots she picked. He got to make pickles.
I have already started my seeds indoors for my spring garden (19 types so far) and have it marked in my planner when it’s going outside. I have it all planned out and I have a chart for when it started, sprouting, going outside… My local nursery even does free classes and I attend those frequently.
Can you tell I love this?
Thank you so much for sharing your very special garden with us, Dawn! Your love for all you grow is so evident in your photos and words. I’m also very inspired by your adventures in oil and honey infusions 😋
OK folks, we’ve seen veggie gardens in the northeast and now the southwest. Where are my edible gardeners in the PNW? The midwest? How about the Great Plains or the southeast? Whether you’ve got rows and rows of raised beds or a small patch for growing some herbs, we’d love to see it on Garden Photo of the Day! Follow the directions below to submit photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad.
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