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Why We Started From Seed to Spoon

This is the story about why I decided to start helping others grow their own food and how Election Day changed my life.

It’s no coincidence that we launched this whole “From Seed to Spoon” thing on Election Day. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get all political here. Honestly, I was going to be sad about the result no matter who won the election. I felt like neither candidate came anywhere close to representing who I am and the values I stand for. I walked into my polling place as a father of three and one on the way with a sense of dread for the future of our country and came out the door afterwards with an altered sense of purpose and a new mission. This story is about how the people I met on election day inspired me to help people grow food. 

First, I’ve got to tell a story about something I’ve felt compelled to do since the day we started our garden. The garden is one of my favorite places. I work from home doing software development and I go there frequently to de-stress, read, write, or think through a problem. Heck, I’m here now writing this post. My backyard backs up to and overlooks the property for a children’s home for women and children that are going through hard times and need some help. I see their campus every day and somewhere along the way, I began to have this overwhelming feeling that I should help them somehow. I can’t explain it, I just felt called to help them. It’s been on my list of “things to do”, but I never made time for taking action on the feeling. 

Fast forward to Election Day again, and we’re waiting in line to vote in the gym at a nearby church. My daughter Marianne’s social skills far exceed mine and within a few minutes of waiting in line, she’d introduced me to a few new friends. One of them just happened to work at the children’s home mentioned before. As most of my conversations do, it soon shifted to gardening and I discovered they were needing some help with a community garden. I eagerly volunteered to help out and ended up having the wonderful opportunity to help them. I felt like through this conversation and others that I had that day, I was given my new mission. Instead of worrying about everything going on the country and constantly feeling sad about all the bad news, DO SOMETHING TO FIX IT!

And that’s pretty much the moment this whole idea of starting a website (and eventually mobile app) that helped people grow food came from. I started growing food two years ago having never before grown a successful vegetable in my life. I planted tomatoes ten years ago and ended up with dandelions taller than the tomatoes. I started at square one with all of this, but I have a bit of an obsessive personality. I started learning as much as I could through reading books and blogs, watching YouTube gardening videos, taking classes, learning from people that had been doing it for decades, and touring farms. I basically stopped watching all TV shows and stopped reading the news late at night. I devoted all of that time to learning, building the farm, and growing food. 

I’ve spent a lot of time learning this stuff and now I want to use this knowledge to help others! I want to help people that are where I was back when I started and show them that it’s possible to save money and live healthier by growing your own food. I want to help others avoid some of the mistakes I made and show how easy it can be to grow your own food. My own personal journey has taught me the value of eating and living with healthy habits. I would love to be able to look back on my life when it’s over and say I was able to make the world just a little bit better by helping others live a more healthy lifestyle.

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10 thoughts on “Why We Started From Seed to Spoon

  1. Thank you for reminding me that success is possible for a beginning gardener! This is my very first year growing a vegetable garden and I’m going with a “go big or go home” strategy. And I can’t wait to see pictures of the children in their community garden. I have heard so many wonderful stories of what those gardens can do for people in times of hardship. Kudos to you!

  2. Love the video showing your garden set up. Ian getting into gardening seriously since 2913. I’m doing modified grow bag system and container gardening. Due to my age limitations this seems to work for us. My husband starting to show more interest. Have a great gardening year up north. I’m in Tidewater coastal Virginia. Good you are getting the children involved!???

    1. Thanks for reading and taking the time to leave a comment, Loraye! I hope you have a wonderful growing season in 2018. Also, we’d love to hear your feedback on our new iOS and Android mobile application if you get a chance to try it out! You can find download links on the main page of our website at http://www.seedtospoon.net.

  3. Just have to say you are already making a difference, keep up the great work. I too have turned to gardening as one of the ways I can “be the change” and your blog has been the most helpful I’ve found yet! I’m on my second year with two raised beds and I love it so much. So far I’ve only bought seedlings from nurseries but I’m building a grow light shelf and starting the seeds myself for next year. I’m planning on growing more than I need and giving the extra away, encouraging others to take their health and food into their own hands. Growing food seems like a simple thing but I think it is one of the most effective ways we can change our communities and the world. Thanks for sharing your valuable experience, it is reaching further than you know.

    1. Thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind and wonderful message, Rebecca! I agree with everything you said 100% Please let us know if there’s any way we can help you with your journey! Thank you for downloading our app and I’d love to hear any feedback you have! Also, it would really help us out if you left a review in the App Store. I don’t like having to ask for them, but they go a long way towards getting the app in front of more people.

      I hope you have a great 2018 growing season!

  4. I didn’t see an answer on the app and am not sure where to post this question – how do I find the transplant dates for my area? If I’m reading the guides correctly it looks like the dates listed are for planting seeds. I “cheat” and buy seedlings from a store to put in my garden. Thoughts?

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