I have a lot of fond memories of the huge garden my family habitually planted in my youth, complete with what seemed like every vegetable under the sun. Tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, beans, peas, carrots, onions, radishes, potatoes, beets, corn, squash in all varieties – you name it, we grew it. And ate it, usually straight from the garden.

There is nothing like the snap of a carrot just pulled from the earth, or biting into a ripe, juicy tomato still warm from the sun that you’ve just plucked from the vine. And don’t get me started about beets. I love beets.

I’m getting hungry just think about it.

While we definitely enjoyed the fruits of our labor, there is no getting around the fact that keeping a large garden is a lot of work. It takes unwavering commitment to carry the process through from start to finish.

Over the years, as time was at more of a premium, keeping the garden going started to become more work than enjoyment and the size of the plot grew smaller and smaller as our interest faded.