The author grows her own produce in her Maryland backyard. It's saved her family hundreds on groceries during the season.
Mackenzie Davis
If you had asked me five years ago whether I'd be spending part of my morning checking on tomato plants or celebrating the first strawberry of the season, I would have laughed.Between raising two daughters with my husband and running two businesses, my days are carefully orchestrated. My calendar is filled with client meetings, strategy sessions, school pickups, and the thousand small responsibilities that come with parenting. Gardening simply didn't fit into the picture I had of my life.I've also never been someone who meticulously tracked grocery prices or planned shopping trips around weekly sales. Convenience usually wins. But over the last few years, even someone like me couldn't ignore how dramatically the cost of fresh food has changed.It wasn't that we suddenly couldn't afford groceries. It was the realization that we were spending an astonishing amount on produce that disappeared almost as quickly as we brought it home. My 7-year-old daughter could happily eat strawberries every day if we let her. Fresh herbs rarely lasted the week before wilting. Tomatoes, cucumbers, salad greens, and blueberries were staples in our home, yet I felt like I was constantly replacing them.
