Are you weary of winter?
Do you enjoy fresh vegetables?
Then as your Personal Sherpa of Joy, I have a suggestion. 
I invite you to think about warmer weather and planting a garden.
Those of you who are discouraged members of the Black Thumb Club like me, take heart.
Your own Personal Master Gardener is available, for free, and he is not limited by time, space, or geography!
As they note on their site:
There are a lot of variables that go into planning a garden. Smart Gardener does all the hard work for you. We collect, calculate and create a smart personal profile of your garden just for you.
Be still my heart! Can this be my own personal Master Gardener? Squee!
Here is the introductory video:
Confession time: I have been Possibility Impaired about growing my own food.
My past gardening experience was all work and no harvest, plus I just don’t know what I’m doing and am overwhelmed at the idea of the learning all about gardening.
Please, somebody, just tell me what to do, and stay with me while I muddle through!
Feeling that Smart Gardner just might be my ticket to a veritable cornucopia for my table, I set up an account, planned a garden for two, and named it Joyful Abundance.
Smart Gardener will hold your hand through the entire process, sending you notices of what and how to do and when, and reminding you to note your completed tasks in your online journal.
There is even a harvest calculator to see how much money you saved.
All for free. Yay for free!
Square Foot Gardening
The last time I grew vegetables, we had a small backyard, so I turned to square foot gardening.
I love how it efficiently uses every square inch of the plot.
If you’d like to read up on this method, I highly recommend this book:
Soil Testing
Smart Gardener recommends you get you soil tested so you can provide a healthy foundation for your crops.
Your local Cooperative Extension Service will generally do this for a very reasonable fee.
I will definitely do this, as I know nothing about Tennessee soil.
Growing from good to great
Gardens Alive is a company that sells environmentally responsible products that work, and that will help your plants grow faster, stronger, and yield more.
I have used a variety of their products on a previous garden, and they all worked as promised.
I never got to harvest anything, though, because a groundhog ate everything one evening while we were out.
Every tender green bean, delicate leaf of lettuce, and the slender carrot tops.
There was only green stubble left. 
Hence my decades long hiatus from gardening.
I sense my self-imposed exile is coming to an end, and I am ready to dip my toes back into the warm and nourishing soil again.
Remembering how amazing fresh vegetables taste, even when simply prepared, makes me do a little happy dance.
And when I think about sharing them with friends, the joy is multiplied!
Question: What has been your experience as a gardener, and what would you offer as advice?
On Saturdays, I share refreshment and insight for your life.
Sharing at Living Well, Spending Less
Top Photo: Construction Deal Mkting
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Thank goodness I married a man who knows gardening (he even knows about canning, not that we do). He grew me a huge garden at our other house, half food, half flowers. Then we moved here and encountered mega rocks in the ground. I have been attempting container gardening and am upping the ante this spring because I love fresh tomatoes with their juicy flavor; nothing like store bought! I am going to check out the Square Food book because I’ve heard of it and that should work in our confined rocky space if I bring in dirt!
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Tomatoes-mmmmm! How sweet your hubbie knows gardening! Good luck with the Square Foot Gardening. I didn’t believe how close I could plant everything and how successful it would be. Lots less weeding, too!