Taming the Tiller (and Other Garden Adventures)

When I first started working for The FruitGuys in 2007, I lived in the suburbs of Philadelphia with my now-wife Julie. We rented a row house with a long, narrow backyard. It was all grass with no garden to speak of, but we decided it was the perfect place to plant vegetables.?

We picked a 20-foot-long spot along the fence. Then, I drew out a diagram of our space and put together a color-coded map of everything I wanted to plant. Our landlord gave us permission to turn the plan into reality, and suddenly it was time for the tricky part: Renting a tiller and using it to break up the grass.

Taming the Tiller

The tiller was so wide and heavy that we weren’t sure we’d be able to fit it into our old blue Toyota RAV4. We barely managed it! When we got home we hefted the thing out of the SUV, up the back steps, and into position in the yard. I had never used a tiller before, so I was pretty nervous about starting it up. I held my breath, reached out for the handles, and squeezed both triggers.

With a sound like a lawnmower revving to life, the tiller lurched forward and off to the side—chewing up a patch of grass we wanted to keep! I screeched and let go, trying to tamp the grass back down and inch the tiller back to where it was supposed to be. On the next pass, Julie and I each grabbed onto a handle, barely managing to steady the thing and keep it straight. After lots of trial and error (and laughter from our neighbor) our garden was finally ready for planting.?

Gardening Lessons Learned

We learned a lot during our first year of gardening, like how to protect our peas from the local rabbits and that you have to plant a bunch of corn plants, not just a few, if you want to get any cobs to eat. (The more plants you have, the better they’ll pollinate each other.) Still, our tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers thrived in the East Coast summer. We shared veggies with neighbors and took a lot of pride in tending the garden.?

Nearly 20 years later, I still miss that garden space. Julie and I don’t have a backyard in our San Francisco apartment, so we’ve replaced our backyard garden with window boxes spilling bushy basil plants and purple hydrangeas. They’re beautiful to look at. But they will never replace the joy and pleasure of getting my hands dirty and growing our own food from scratch.?

Whether you’re a gardener or not, spring is a wonderful time to appreciate nature’s bounty. The trees are finally blooming after a winter of rest and our farm partners are starting a new cycle of planting and growing. As I write this, we’re also beginning Earth Month and celebrating a solar eclipse. I can’t help but feel awed by the natural world, and I hope that you’ll take some time to enjoy it this week. Bite into one of the fresh fruits from our Spring Fruit Guide, take a walk in the sunshine, or, if you’re really brave, try tilling up your own garden plot.

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In gratitude,?

Erin Mittelstaedt

CEO, The FruitGuys