Howdy! I’m Glen Doki, and I have a passion for gardening. It started about six years ago, when I bought my home in Apex, North Carolina. I did not know anything about gardening at the time, but the property consists of a full acre with a southern exposure that is kept very clear because of a power line. Also, the previous owner planted several fruit trees and kept a modest vegetable garden.
The following spring, I bought a few packets of seeds and gave it a shot, and some things actually grew. Then I had troubles with animals, and insects, and plant diseases, and I had to develop some real skills and solutions. I kinda got hooked. Maybe some of it was stubbornness, or determination, but I started investing in what I was doing. I became a gardener who would spend $300 to grow $40 worth of food.
Today, I’ve got a few things figured out, and I learn something new every day. I still make boneheaded mistakes, and it is sometimes astonishing how much I don’t know even after doing something with success for several years. I started this blog when people started asking me what I was doing and how I solved certain kinds of problems. The stories sometimes take a long time to tell, and some are hard to explain without pictures and videos. In all honesty, I’m expecting that in coming years it will serve as a reference to me as well; a sort of growing journal to remember what was tried, what worked, and what didn’t.
A logical consequence of learning to grow food is a newfound interest in preparing that food. Abundance brings its own problems! What do you do if you pull 50 pounds of zucchini out of the garden in a single day?? Thus I developed an interest in all manner of food preparation and preservation, including canning, freezing, dehydrating, pickling, fermenting. Adding this to my longstanding interest in baking and cooking generally has motivated me to learn to use all this wonderful garden produce in a manner worthy of it.
Lastly, I am coming to understand that food is hard to do without community. This is a tough one, because I have an inherent affinity for “rugged independence.” As appealing as the notion of homesteading is to me, I understand that I don’t really want to be fully off the grid. A few years back I learned to barter the vegetables I grew for those I didn’t grow. I also have an interest in what other homesteaders are doing. Sometimes I learn new ideas, solutions, or techniques from them. Sometimes I trade with them. Sometimes I just develop friendships with them. Community is a big part of wellness, and I’m grateful and excited to participate in my local agriculture.