So Nice to Meet You.

I’m a gardener, a mom of two, and the person behind this website—which I’ve been wanting to build for years, ever since my kids were small and I kept wishing something like it already existed.

I live in Central Iowa Zone 5b, if that means anything to you—where the summers get hot, the winters get cold, and the falls are so beautiful they almost make up for everything in between. My backyard has a raised bed, containers on the deck, pots in the front yard, and landscaping beds that are always a little more ambitious than my schedule allows. It’s not perfect. It’s ours.

My kids are 7 and 10. They’ll help in the garden when the conditions are right—which mostly means when it doesn’t conflict with swimming, tennis, or what feels like approximately 500 baseball tournaments every summer. So I’ve learned to keep our gardening sessions short, low-pressure, and focused on the stuff they actually care about: growing things they can eat, watching seeds turn into something real, and occasionally just poking around in the dirt because it’s satisfying.

How I Got Here

I didn’t grow up planning to become a gardening expert. I grew up watching my mom and my grandmother garden, which gave me a love of it—but not exactly a curriculum.

In my mid-20s, I was given responsibility for the gardening vertical on Better Homes & Gardens’ website. I knew I loved plants. I did not know soil pH from a hole in the ground. So I did what any slightly panicked editor would do: I became a Master Gardener, used my own yard as a test plot, and learned by doing.

From there, I went on to lead content at a botanical garden, contribute extensively to Burpee Seeds and Scotts Miracle-Gro, and hold editorial roles at Angi, HomeAdvisor, and Forbes Home. My career and my gardening life grew up together—I honestly don’t think I’d be the gardener I am without the writing, or the writer I am without the gardening.

I tell you all of that not to sound impressive, but because I want you to know that what I share here is grounded in real expertise—not just enthusiasm. I’ve done the research, so you don’t have to.

What I Grow

As many hydrangeas as I can fit. A couple of tomato plants that I keep solely for making an epic batch of salsa every September. Enough basil to put on absolutely everything from June until the first frost. A river of black-eyed Susans along my front yard that I planted to match my bright yellow door.

I also keep a rotating cast of experimental plants—something new every season, just to see what happens—and an ever-growing collection of houseplants, including my grandmother’s Christmas cactus, which is one of my most prized possessions. (It’s a cutting from her mother’s plant. It’s very old and very much alive and I am very proud of this.)

With my kids, it’s almost always vegetables. I want them to understand where food actually comes from, not just in theory but in practice. There’s something about a kid eating a vegetable they grew themselves that feels like a genuine small miracle every time.

Why This Website

When my kids were little, I kept looking for a resource that would help me involve them in the garden in a way that actually worked– that was honest about the chaos of real family life, clear enough to actually follow, and didn’t assume I had unlimited time, a perfectly manicured backyard, or visions of homesteading.

I never really found it. So I decided to build it.

Everything here is written with a specific family in mind: busy, well-meaning, maybe a little overwhelmed, and genuinely wanting to make gardening a thing your family does together—not just something you mean to get around to. I’m so glad you’re here.