Gardeners, start your engines coz it’s time to start working on your kitchen garden for 2013 (a banner year, we hope)! And this year we have a treat for our blog readers – our own expert Lisa Winters will be posting regularly about what she’s doing in HER garden – what works, what doesn’t (because Lisa likes to try new varieties) and what to do WHEN.
Lisa’s Career in Gardening
I wondered how she got sooo knowledgeable in gardening, and of course doing it is a great way to learn, but she also studied to become an Anne Arundel Master Gardener. Her regular duties for the Master Gardener program include managing the kitchen garden at the Governor’s Mansion in Annapolis (see our earlier blog article about that garden), coordinating the Grow It Eat It program for Anne Arundel County, and giving talks for the public on all manner of gardening subjects.
Lisa also studied horticulture at Anne Arundel Community College and earned a certificate in professional horticulture.
Currently she’s studying as a fellow in the two-year LEAD Maryland Program. It selects and then trains people who are interested in the future of Maryland agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities to be leaders in finding 21st Century solutions for Maryland in those fields.
In the photo right is Lisa as she was last seen on this blog, using her bag of skills to power the pumpkin pull at our Harvest Festival.
Lisa’s Garden
Lisa’s been a “veggie gardener” since she can remember, starting with childhood summers at her grandparents’ house, where she worked with them in their 2-acre vegetable garden. She credits them with teaching her to grow, can, freeze, pickle, and more.
Ever since those days she’s been growing vegetables “in some fashion.” Currently she has 10-by-20-foot in-ground garden and is experimenting with containers.
Vegetable garden photo by Layanee DeMerchant – of her own garden.