The beginning

The gardening bug bit me early on in life. Around age 13 my father allowed me to transform a piece of our backyard lawn into my own vegetable garden.

Oh, how I worked that plot, every spare moment I could muster was spent tilling, fertilising, sowing, watering, de-bugging. My efforts were rewarded - I sold my vegetables to my mother for a pretty penny.

A few years later, my gardening endeavors were expanded to cover most of our backyard. I was given 3 peach trees, an apricot tree and a plum tree.

I dug the holes, filled them half-way with manure, I planted each tree caringly and watered, fertilized and nurtured each tree for 3 years before they started bearing. Then I hit senior year and I was off to university.

Life took some interesting (and not so interesting) twists and turns and many years later I find myself in South Florida with the climate and the large backyard of my dreams, but no budget to match. What to do, well, I've read often that if "life throws you a lot of lemons, make lemonade", so I set out with the mindset to do everything on a tight budget and allow father time to work in my favor.

I hope to give many of you some hope that you too can transform your un-green water hogging lawns into a beautiful colorful and even edible landscapes to boot.

I will show you how I am transforming my "green desert" into a sub-tropical paradise, that is water-wise, beautiful, pleasing, relaxing and good for your health.