Okay here’s my little secret….I love gardening! As a child I always had a plant in my room and I constantly tried to plant fruit trees in my backyard. Once I got to high school and the beginning years of college I lost interest in nurturing plants. This school year I’ve been raising a beautiful bamboo plant (named Walter) and loving it!! I’ve learned plants are wonderful things to care for- the results of a healthy, happy plant is very gratifying.

During my stay in Chicago I planted flowers for my mom and got my sprouting inspiration back.

I personally went to the Clover Garden Center nearby and picked 2 flat trays of amazing “red star” and “flash duo red” petunias. I’ll admit I went a little overboard with my potting…they multiply like crazy and stuffed the pot….the upside is that we’ll be expecting a full cloud of red flowers.

Being in the Clover Garden Center was such a rush! The abundance of flowers and vegetables everywhere it hypnotized me and I wanted to grow more. I started thinking about my new love for vegetables in my diet and got inspired to grow local. These petunias have become a great stepping stone into becoming an urban farmer. My first group of veggies will be green beans, swiss chard greens, green peppers, and cucumbers. Hopefully this will be a good introduction to an all raw diet.