Why You Should Garden (& why you should start THIS YEAR!) 

I started growing as a kid, I’m 63. I’ve been in and out based on owning a home. I did great 25 years ago bringing lots of veggies to others I was younger then. In 2019 I came across your channel because I knew I was moving to the country. I made the investment and began to glean from your love of tomatoes. Last season I grew from seedlings. I made lots of mistakes. My peppers never survived but I learned why. But there were nurseries that had seedlings so I threw them in anyway. I had THE BEST TASTING harvest I ever ate. I’ve learned composting which I continue to do. This year I’m going bigger. I’ve already started my winter seed process. With gardening you get to see that the seasons really start sooner and end longer.

I restarted gardening last year at 70 years old. I did a lot when I was younger but life and health got in the way. Increasing food prices and bland tasting grocery produce got me back into it. I’m raising my two grandchildren and want them to realize the taste difference of homegrown food.

I am in Essex England, and 52 years old , never grown anything, tiny garden that we concreted. then I discovered your channel in 2019, I put in a few small raised beds, I bought loads of seeds and LOVE IT. My husband has now started helping because he sees the benefit, not only to our food bills but to my mental health and my faith xx Thankyou Jess for giving me something I that helped me cope with Covid, family loss, stresses of work and general life. you are a total inspiration and I love you and your family x

This will be my 5th year gardening. I started out with a 5x5 bed and bought plant starts from my local nursery. I grew all the wrong things together at the wrong times that first year. The only thing that I gained from that tiny patch for me was experience and learning a whole lot of what not to do. Each year I learned more and gradually grew more and more food. Now I start my own seeds and preserve my harvest. Don’t ever give up and have faith. You will be a successful gardener. 💚

I am a disabled College student who just needed an outlet that didn't have anything to do with school and that I could do independently. Gardening was that outlet for me. It truly had been my saving grace over the past couple of years

I started gardening when I had no idea how a seed grew. We had 4 4x4 squares in the ground. A pumpkin grew up through the fence on the other side, which was a school playground. The children must have watched it grow day by day. Then one day, someone harvested it and put it in our side of the fence. I’m tearing up remembering how amazing that was.

My first garden plan I made in 2019 has "JUST DO IT" scrawled across the top of the page. It was late in the season here, July, and I started some things from seed even though I was scared. We harvested SO MUCH food from that little bit of ambition I mustered up, and we harvested even more wisdom. The rest is history. ♡♡♡ You encouraged me then and you encourage me now. THANK YOU JESS!

I learned gardening as a young child in a family of eleven of us. (I was also washing dishes at age five standing on a chair !) Now at age 65, I continue to garden as it brings me such joy. My hope is that many people watch this and start gardening maybe for the first time ! I've always called gardening "therapy" because it truly is nurturing and satisfying to me just to get my hands in the dirt !

This will be my 4th year really gardening on a big scale. I started 10 years ago with one raised bed and a couple bags of soil, just putting seeds in the ground, and pulling up tiny carrots and wondering why the radish greens got so tall. I tried again a few years later with some squash, and I was super confused why they didn’t really grow and were covered in “weird beetles”. Now I have a 1/2 acre garden, growing enough produce to share and sell. I’m devoting space to cut flowers this year and have 300 tomato plants going. (Thank you Jess!!!) If you are on the fence about starting, just hop over. We’re here to welcome you on the green side!!! 💚💚🌱🌱

YES! The distinction between 'becoming a gardener' and 'growing a garden' - i dig it (puns!). When you *become* something the emphasis is on the skill, the knowledge, not the end product. So if and when that end product is a disappointment, it doesn't mean you are the disappointment. Man do I feel this!

Got a tomato story for you🤗. I've only been growing a garden for 4 years, so still lots to learn. My neighbor, an experienced garden, loves tomatoes but his wife doesn't. She is a chef at a local restaurant. She took ALL of his tomatoes to work and used them in her dishes. The customers LOVED THEM! He was not happy he didn't get even one! I had a good harvest that year so I went next door to share. Nobody was home so I left a HUGE tomato on the porch railing. They went to visit family the next day and took that tomato. They all said it was the best tomato they ever had. They named it the 'mystery tomato' bc he wasn't sure where it came from 😁. Btw- the variety is actually called Delicious. They don't lie. They get really big as well. Highly recommend.

I’m soon to be 73 and just started gardening in 2020. Have loved the harvests and didn’t realize how good non-grocery store produce tastes. Had to step back and let the garden rest last fall but gearing up to start again with a new spring garden. It’s my happy place. You Luke and Eric played a huge role also for me getting started at this late stage in my life

Seasoned gardener here, and I'm in complete agreement with the way you've prioritized these points 💗 Wanted to share my failure/success story in case it helps anyone. I learned to garden in the Bay Area of California, a region that has mild winters and relatively cool summers, with plenty of fog off the Bay to calm the temps. Gardening there was easy, it felt like there was barely any pressure, and I grew confident (smug?) In my gardening. Then I moved 90 minutes north to the center of Sacramento Valley. And while this region is known as the Bread Bowl of the US for the dominance of farming, the climate is so different from where I came from that my first few years of gardening were near total failure (turns out, you actually have to water daily when summers have regular 110 degree days!) I had a long work commute, and my marriage was falling apart, and so the heartbreak of failed gardens was too much for me at the time. I gave up. Fast forward 8 years, the marriage ended, now working from home, and COVID quarantine hits. In the stillness and solitude that followed, I turned back towards the garden. Not out of fear of scarcity, but out of the abundance of time and gratitude for the stillness. The need to put my hands to something life-giving and beautiful. To "grow something lovely." It was then that I found Jess, Googling around for vertical gardening tips, and have been here ever since. And you know what I discovered? My mindset had shifted, had humbled. No longer carrying the expectation of easy success, i got curious about what it means to garden well in this region. I started approaching it as a student again, doing experiments and slowly learning from failure and success alike. And I've had many failures since that resurrected garden I planted in 2020. But each season, more success. And what I know now to be true is that I am not someone trying to get food out of my yard. I am a woman in a deep, committed relationship with the land I live on, willing to listen and follow her lead, through success and failure alike.

I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses... or maybe the tomatoes! It's a wonderful thing to stand in a garden and listen to God.

Thank you Jess for having the heart of a teacher. My first experience with an heirloom tomato was with a Black Krim eight years ago. After that first bite, I was hooked. It was several years of trial and error growing a garden, until I found Roots and Refuge. Now years later, I grow way too many varieties of tomatoes. Being inspired by the tomatoes led to growing all sorts of food and every year I challenge myself to try new vegetables. Gardening for me is therapy. The challenge keeps me motivated and the food inspires me to keep growing it. It is after all what generations did, and history has shown that it has been often necessary to grow gardens. This is not a quick race but a marathon and each year I am impressed with how much more I accomplish in the garden. Gardening has taught me so much about life. This is why I think God wanted us connected to our food, to teach us to trust and rely on Him and not ourselves. For you newbies the journey awaits, take that leap and jump in. Start no matter how small, keeping in mind you can build a little each season.

7:50 I started a youtube gardening channel, because my family was tired of me talking about gardening 24/7 haha 😂 -Cara

I started growing as a senior citizen. Lots of trial and error, but finally had a real harvest last year. In expectation of success, I bought the largest chest type freezer I could. By the end of summer it was full! Don’t give up folks and don’t think you are too old to start. BTW, programs like R&R and many other provide so much encouragement, but you have to get past watching and start doing - get out there folks!

I am in Arizona, zone 9b. When I moved into my home it was all rock and mud. Arizona folks like lots of rock. I followed along for about two months and started watching others who were gardening. I had five tons of rock removed, underneath it was black plastic, and then more rock. I kept at it and got my first wood chip delivery four years ago. I hand-watered everything for the first three years, in the winter and summer, where temperatures are 100 or more for several months at a time. I would be sweating awful, and people would ask how I could do it. I felt if I was that hot, imagine how hot my poor plants were that had to stay out there all day. That is how I could do it, I learned compassion for my plants. Now my yard is full of worms and I can grow almost anything. I have tropical trees growing, fresh fruit, and vegetables. I am going to be 64 this month and the last four years have been some of my absolute favorites.

I started my gardening journey in 2020 like most people, but I have learned so much in just three years that I'm now helping family, friends, and neighbors put in their first gardens. Im also helping people get into chickens for the first time. I started my journey because of my passion for growing things and to help my great grandparents eat better food, and since then I've built a garden at their house. I go over there and help manage it, but seeing their joy as they pull a tomato for the first time in 60 or more years is so... special. I'm able to help them eat better, but I'm also helping to spread the love that is gardening. I'm not the best by any means, but I looking into problems and come up with a solution. Let me also mention, I garden organically, I don't spray anything at all on my garden, and last year I had bees sleeping on my plants at night, and butterflies beyond count, and yes.... even spiders. But I built them a refuge and they put down their roots and stayed awhile. Thank you for everything you do Jess!

I was in my city house for 10 years telling myself I'd grow a garden someday when we had some acreage. There was too much shade on our property was my excuse. When 2020 happened, I decided to start using "my waiting room as my classroom" and found 48 square feet by my front sidewalk that got some afternoon/evening sun and filled it with food plants and flowers. By the next summer, God gave us a half acre of land and I'm growing as much as I can stuff into the ground 💚💚💚 I'm so glad I got started with what I had 🌱🌱

My mom was always a gardener, so I grew up digging up worms from the compost pile. The only food we grew was herbs and Serrano peppers, but I’ll always remember how much flavor was in those peppers. Back in 2020 I was 25. My partner and I had just moved into our first house and were very busy getting things fixed and cleaned. We put a few plants by the front door. Everything was demolished by deer and pocket gophers. In 2021 I grew tons of greens in pots on our balcony. In 2022 I experimented with and successfully grew herbs by the front door. My partner is finishing up building a greenhouse. This year I’m going to build raised beds lined with hardware cloth to keep out the pocket gophers. My partner wants to put up fencing to keep the deer out and I’m going to put electric fencing to keep bears out. Next he also wants to build a chicken coop. I can’t wait to start chickens for the compost material. Eventually I want alpacas and he wants horses!

My grandfather was a farmer and I have always felt a need to grow things. I love the smell of the earth, the plants, even the animals. As a kid I remember grandpa driving by other farms and telling me to take a deep breath. Aaaaahhhh, I will never forget the smells. I now have a small garden but I try to cram as much as I can of all the things I love and want to feed my family. Thanks for sharing Jess!

Jess, you speak so much truth talking about the anxiety, depression on top of just feeding you and your family. Gardening is healing me on a myriad of levels and will be healing my family on a physical level as much as possible. My husband has so many health problems stemming from diabetes and is a below the knee amputee. He is not able to do a lot anymore so this is something he can help with since he can do the plants in pots on our deck. THANK YOU for all you and Miah do!

Guys, we need a "Gardening Gold Star* T-shirt or sticker or something now 🤣🤣🤣 who's with me?? 🌟🌟🌟

I needed this pep talk. You, Luke, and Eric all taught me how to garden in 2020. I’ll be forever grateful. And you’re right, it’s not just about the harvest. The community I gained might be the best part!🥰

I grew up watching my grandmother in her flower beds and my grandfather in his garden. They made it look so easy. Ive tried gardening several times at different addresses (I rent), and even had one landlord tell me that I couldnt have a garden anymore because it was ugly🙄. So I had just about given up because the bugs, the weeds, and tomato black rot seemed to alwsys win. Then about four years ago I had been watching Charles Dowding's channel about no dig...Wow! I could do that...but I got discouraged because I still couldn't keep up with the weeds and me and heat were not good together. The next year I saw Jess's channel. She showed me how to love to garden! I didnt end up canning a ton that year, but I ate out of the garden all summer and it was just beautiful!🌺🦋💜😭 I actually made a thank you video for Jess on my channel so you can see the garden. Im so excited every year now for spring! Thanks Jess..again and again!💜🌻🌻🌻🌻

When I was working, I am now retired, we had a small garden. Once retired we knew we would be expanding it to grow more food to be able to preserve more food. So during the last five years of my working life I started buying things: canners, canning jars, dehydrator, hand tools, and all kinds of books on gardening and food preservation...but most importantly I gathered knowledge....watching growers like Jess provides a huge FREE education. I did what Jess teaches and I turned my waiting room into a class room. Once we expanded our garden I wanted to influence others to start gardening so I showed both the garden successes and failures on my Facebook page. My sister now grows in a greenstalk, my brother is retiring this year and starting a small garden, and a friend has three raised beds and grows what she can and cans a ton of food purchased from local farmers. Don't wait...start now. The taste is phenomenal and when you feed your family that first meal with homegrown food on their plates...well...I'm not going to tell you how it makes me feel...you need to grow your own and experience it yourself. Just. Grow. Something.

Hi Jessica, this is my experience As a Dutch women I studied agriculture for six years In the Netherlands it was pretty easy with my knowledge and enthousiasmen over there to grow a garden BUT NOW Maaamamia I live on Crete Island Greece and a long story short after 7 years losing every garden each year I'm now on a point sooooooo Hippy Happy my soil that I build my chickens the compost proces the situation of my garden and last the most important the water I can say that my system finally works After that huge learning proces and didn't give up I have had dreams you can not imagine every year but it failed This year my dreams are even bigger and my vision just as I have Fun,work with my body and I'm outside connected with the power nature is every day You are right the harvest is not the most important it's the Path you put your first steps on

Thank you so much for sharing and I am happy to do the same. I actually started out with house plants because my mother always had a house full of them and it was so relaxing and beautiful. She also had an amazing yard. Once I got a house of my own, I grew some herbs and tomatoes in pots because it felt so cool to have the space to do so. When I realized how good they tasted, and could use my whole yard, there was no looking back, bye bye grass!. You get hooked for sure and then when you realize you are feeding your family, it is amazing. You'd be surprised what you can do to with even a very small space. And I have neighbors who cooperatively share and trade. The world is good !

Hi Jess, I’ve watched your videos since before the pandemic. I started gardening because of you. Almost gave up, but because you told us that we might fail and want to give up I didn’t give up. Not as successful as I’d like to be but much better than when I first started. Yes everyone should start now. Thank you

Thank you so much for this video! I’m living proof that if you’ve never gardened or planted anything and if you’re planting seeds with no knowledge, you will fail! I started about 10-12 years ago and the first couple years were ruff and not much was harvested. But my soul was healed, and I found myself and had many talks with my Father above and here on earth. Some of my best memories was learning to garden as an adult with my very knowledgeable father. Last year I had an abundance of harvest so much that I was able to donate many tomatoes and peppers to a local food pantry. I also canned sauce, paste, ketchup, juice, whole and diced tomatoes, salsa, and bbq sauce. It is very rewarding on many different levels when you’re able to plant a seed and get the best tasting food you put in your mouth. Our Father is amazing! More should get to know him! God is good! Again, thank you for sharing with us.

I cannot praise this video enough on the importance of starting to learn how to grow food. It is so smart, even if you don’t have your dream garden situation to just plant some thing. I’m currently living in a city with only a quarter of an acre of land, including my house on that land. Start with pots, start with one raised bed, start with a indoor hydroponic system that you build from random parts at Lowe’s. Just get started and then continue to learn and build on your dream. I started my journey of my very first plant in an apartment on my balcony. I now have 16 raised beds on my quarter of an acre with dreams of a 10 to 15 acre property eventually. Just grow, just learn.

I find every word of this to be so profound and true. I have hardened years ago, quit for many years because of massive lifestyle changes, and just began again last year with a few plants on my deck and a small herb garden. We live in 7.5 acres of heavily wooded forest, but this year about one acre is being cleared for a large raised bed garden. I need this back in my life. Thanks for the encouragement Jess!

Hey Jess, I have had multiple surgeries. One lumbar fusion was done so close to planting time it caused me to have to crawl around on my hands and knees to plant the garden that year. Adapt and overcome. A knee replacement made kneeling impossible that year so I had to find ways around that with raising beds to 2-3 feet tall which I continued over several years up to now. A neck fusion, another knee replacement and another lumbar fusion. All these caused more need to change how I was doing things. More of the adapt and overcome activity. I have learned the meaning of having a time out and having the brakes applied to my dreams and plans. For his reasons God has had this as part of my plan. By the way every single surgery was 100% successful but there was a change in limitations afterwards. So I do as I can and I thank God for every day I can. When I can do this or that it is like a reward but when the stamina runs out then it is time to find other things to do that are productive. Let the joy of what you can do and praise God for that and give it more of your attention than what you can not do. Don't let the voice of the deceiver tell you that you can't do this or that. Listen to the voice of truth because God wants you to be productive and successful and he will bless you in your efforts.

My grandma taught me. I was drawn to it at an early age but wasn’t able to plant anything until I was in my 20’s. I’m my 30’s I started a vegetable garden and in my 40’s I expanded it with my kids and taught them. It brings me so much joy to look at it and see what my kids and I created. It gives me joy teaching them farm to table cooking. We have learned so much together and love how much we’ve been able to do together. I’ll never move unless my kids help me build another garden.

it was last a little over a year ago that i discovered your channel and then this past summer i started my first garden!! i have fallen in love with plants so much that i’ve actually switched my major to sustainable horticulture! you have effected so many people in such a positive way, thank you jess 🥰💘

I am a teacher and I went through a school shooting 2 years ago. Since then finding peace has been a challenge. For a while the only place I found peace and healing was my garden. Something about being in the company of growing living things that were innocent and outside the challenges of human life helped me rest. I've now gone to therapy and I can find peace in more places now, but the garden is still my favorite. Also one shout out for food security - I worked really hard last summer and fall to put up as much food as possible "for a rainy day" so to speak and turns out that rainy day is right now. Inflation has been kicking my butt and I have sustained my family pretty much entirely from our food storage- most of which I canned myself. I feel very proud of this, that this cinching of my Budget hasn't created an emergency in my home, just an inconvenience. But, if I hadn't had made the choices I made last spring right now would be a very different story.

I’m starting for the first time this spring. I am beyond excited. I’ve been preparing since spring of last year. I’ve done tons of research, watched all the RU-vid videos and probably every single one of yours, and read books. I know I’ll still fail a lot, but I love learning. I started this because I want to get back to a simpler life, and be as self sufficient as possible. I have big dreams and this is just the beginning.

Hi Jess you encouraged your listeners to comment on gardening so here goes. I am in the process of planning my 52nd year of gardening. My mother got me started as a kid in the raspberry and strawberry patch. My garden is quite small 30’X25’ but each year filled to the brim! This may have once been a hobby but, really has turned into a job of preserving so much produce it’s incredible. I would agree with what you are encouraging first time gardeners to do “just start.” There now is so much information out there to help solve most problems, in comparison to when I started years ago. I feel so “Blessed” to be able to continue to do as much as I can. As I look at the snow banks here in the Dakota’s and seed packets arriving in the mail, I hope for another wonderful growing season at your new farm, and to old and new gardeners alike, the garden will soon be calling. Happy Planting’

I’ve been gardening, for 40yrs… as soon as I could pick up a garden tool I was gardening with my mother and grandmother. When I bought my first home,it became a passion. Five years ago I decided to start selling seedlings out of my backyard, because gardening is infectious! grow some thing for the sake of watching a seed sprout, and grow big and produce flowers then fruit. What a beautiful process to watch the lifecycle of a plant. to enjoy those little Goldstar moments, where you are rewarded. Happy gardening, all!

I'd like to encourage others to consider growing in containers! I have a relatively large yard (for my neighborhood) but the back yard is heavily wooded - therefor, not much sun. This will be my 3rd year of growing a bunch of stuff in containers in my driveway. Thankfully, the HOA has looked the other way. 😅 So to Jess's point - don't wait until you have space for your dream garden. Start with what you have now and reap the many rewards!!

I am always thinking about gardening haha

Year 5! Let's gooooo! 🥰

Listening to you as I am sorting my seeds and cleaning up the saved seeds from this past year. I started with tomatoes because I remember walking through the tomato patch as a kid. Still love the smell of them. I am doing more landscaping food planting this year. Kale in the rose bed, onions lining the front bed under the bushes. Short on space? find those places you can underplant food.

I live in Milwaukee, WI and this will be my 3rd year in a row attempting to garden. My first year was pretty "successful". I don't have a backyard (live in a townhouse), but do have a back terrace that I had a small green cheap greenhouse and a long table. I grew successfully mint, basil, sage, Italian parsley, lemon balm, cilantro/coriander, strawberries, jalapeños. My unsuccessful plants were tomatoes (the plant grew, but no fruit), corn (multiple ears grew, but they were small with white fat stumpy looking kernels), lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower. There might have been other success's or fails, I just can't recall right now. Last year, my second year, I started my mini garden, however, the weather took my plants out numerous times with major winds and thunderstorms. This year I will try again (after my surgery the end of the month). Garden God's haven't been on my side, but looking forward to a turn around. Ya'll's lifestyle is such a passion and dream for me.

I started gardening in 2020 in a townhouse. All in containers. Had extreme success. Last year was my hardest growing season but still was able to help save money by growing.

Hi Jess!!I live in a small city. I rent a small house with not very much land to garden. But that didn't stop me from growing food. I'm growing in containers and I have a raised bed in the back yard. By the end of the summer last year we had a small greenhouse. Actually 1 real small greenhouse and then a bit bigger one. We expanded and this year I'm hoping to do a little bit more. My landlord said we inspired everyone in the park here to start growing something. I'm excited to start this year.Lots of learning to do!!!

This is year number three for us. Years one and two were 90% failures. Seriously, we got hardly anything from our garden. And now this year my husband announced that we are doubling our growing space to 60' x 60'. I was completely overwhelmed by this. My feeling was, "How about we get food from our current garden before we expand." I wanted to throw in the proverbial towel. But then, there's my three-year-old grandson. I watch him three days a week and two weeks ago he started pestering me to plant seeds indoors. I explained to him that it is too early to do seed starts (our frost date is May 27th). But he persevered. How can I tell this little boy who was so proud to serve his pickled beets (all of our beets for the season in this one jar) and broccoli (same with the broccoli) at Christmas dinner, that he can't plant some seeds? So yesterday we planted onion, tomato, and nasturtium seeds (all his choices). I will succession plant these over the next few weeks so that he WILL have seed starts to put into the garden in May. Thanks, Jess, for sharing your wisdom and encouragement!

I started gardening at the early age of 12, I am now 67. You would think that I'd be better at this than I am, however, I took the easy way out! As a child, we always purchased our tomatoes and pepper plants at a garden center. So for years and years I did what I was taught....until I found your VLOG on tomatoes! I couldn't get enough....I have started my own peppers and tomatoes for the past 3 years (sad to say, should have been 20 years, just a slow learner) The knowledge was not available like it is today. I love RU-vid. I have learned so much from your vlog...you are amazing and I watch everything you put out for us to see. I agree that people NEED to grow anything they have room for and they would be thrilled at the taste of "real" food. I've been canning as long as I've been gardening, I have this process down to an art. Just to look at the beauty that is in those jars is so satisfying, the taste is even better! People....please start NOW and learn the process....there is NOTHING better than getting a little dirt under your finger nails for the taste of some great food!

The green side. I love it! :) We moved into this house 5 years ago. And I KNEW in my heart that my goal was to finally have a garden. Life had been so crazy for so many years that I just needed to get that balance right and get my hands in the dirt. Along the way, no matter where we lived, I planted something, even if it was just the hen and chicks that came from my great grandma 20 years ago, or the ditch lilies that lived in a pot on my front porch, always coming back each year without fail. Something was growing. Now, 5 years in, this will be my 5th garden, and from the second we moved into this house, we tackled it with fervor. The first year, I could not even see the neighbor's backyards because of all the overgrowth. We DUG and DUG and DUG to get the land cleared, we tarped for the winter where we wanted the beds to be. I planted flowers that filled my space, and gave me time to get my hands dirty. The next spring, we made raised beds and I got to growing. The first year was a great productive year, we had lots of fun stuff happening, but we also had lots of loss in trying to figure out the best practices. I can't even tell you how much google has been my friend, or RU-vid has supplied me with invaluable information from people like Jess, who have so much more experience in today's time. I've learned so much, I'm still learning so much. It is possible, and it is easy, and it is a labor of love, and it is a passion, and it doesn't take much. We are still working on being resourceful and not spending a lot of money to make this happen, and so far, it is working, my garden keeps growing year to year. This year I have a full 1/8 acre devoted to just food production, my lot is a half acre in the city. In 3 more years, I hope to be moved to 1/4 of an acre, but really, all in all, the space doesn't matter, I annually grow at least $1500 worth of produce in my garden to feed us. I expect that number to only rise. That's money I didn't need to spend at the store on something that just doesn't have the same flavor as what comes from my space. I will be 50 this year, and I only wish that my life had been more stable to be able to start this when I was 20, as I can only imagine where I'd be at this point. Thank you Jess for being a constant reminder, and source of knowledge, for me, for our community, for the new and the old growers, the lovers of dirt and good food. You are very much loved and appreciated!

Come to the green side…💚💚🌱

Gardened my whole life via my wonderful hard working parents. It's HARD WORK AND MORE HARD WORK but OMG, what goodness it produces!!!!

I grew up in an apartment building. I didn't know anyone who grew anything. Not even houseplants. After my mother died when I was 9, my brother and I moved in with my older sister and family. They had a house with a yard - and dirt! My brother-in-law wanted to have a garden and asked me to help and I fell in love with dirt and gardening. It went well and I continued learning and growing. A few years after I married, we got a house with a yard and I had my own garden that was so wildly successful, I was giving away fresh food to neighbors - squash, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and peanuts. Started canning then too. After the divorce, lived in apartments again and let gardening go with a new life in a big city. Depression hit me hard. Starting growing houseplants and got pots and grew tomatoes and peppers which helped. Fast forward 40 years and I am living on bed rock so now have way too many pots and some raised beds. The last couple of years have been difficult due to weather fluctuations and time constraints due to working 70 hours a week. Going to retire this year and am prepping pots and raised beds for the season and ordering seeds. Hopeful for rain this summer as we have been in a drought for a couple decades here in the west but plan on harvesting any rain water we get. Got a greenhouse last year and will be starting seeds this next week. Getting really involved in gardening again has really helped my mental health with all that is going on in the world right now. There is nothing like the feeling of working the soil, watering and tending to seeds so they grow strong and harvesting fresh fruits and veg. If you aren't into it yet, you just have to get started - you will be in love! Watching you on You Tube Jess has really pushed me to remember how good it feels and I love all the advice and watching your successes and failures - we all have failures! Thank you for being you!

Thank you Jess. My wish is for so many to just start like Jess says. You will experience such joy and a peace inside that you just don’t know until you feel it. If anyone has anxiety or depression of any sort, gardening is like a meditation and brightens your spirit and feeds your soul as well as your family

I love the racks you did for the seed starters.

I grew up gardening as a kid. Even though we lived in a city suburb and had less than an acre, we always had a small garden in our backyard. My dad was from a family that had always grown some of their own food and he carried that on when he was growing his own family. So I thought I knew everything there was to know about gardening. I was so wrong. When I started my first garden after getting married, it was in a very different growing zone. It took me a while to figure out what I was doing and what I needed to change about how I was growing food before I was really successful at it. From learning to grow extra sunflowers for the deer so they'd stay out of the other vegetables to figuring out potatoes didn't do that well in the soil that I had, the gardening was full of lessons. After twenty years of growing in that zone, I knew how to garden fairly well. Then we moved. Went from zone 5b to zone 10b! So now, I'm a beginner all over again. It's been an adventure to say the least. I've been growing in zone 10b now for four years and I'm only just now feeling like I'm getting the hang of it. It's so completely different from any gardening I've ever done before. I do have to say growing tomatoes in the winter has been a fun and rewarding experience! But that's one of the things I have always loved about gardening. It's like an adventure. Stepping out into the space where I'm growing food is a happy place that gives me great joy and satisfaction. It's a place where I've learned some valuable lessons in peace and the ability to let go of the things I can't change. Nature has a way of doing that for you. Gardening has taught me how to pivot and move on without getting too hung up in the failures. There's always going to be failures. It's the nature of things when counting on an unreliable and sometimes unpredictable growing partner, and Mother Nature is always unpredictable even as forecasters try to do just that. But the lessons she teaches, carries a person forward and spills into so many other places of their lives that have nothing to do with gardening. At least, they have mine. Gardening is learning to adapt.

Jess!!! "I don't like to go to restaurants anymore because my food is better." YESSS!!! Nailed it!

I started three years ago, my first year my expectations were wayyy to high, then I found this channel and the inspiration to use my passion and excitement and now I’m able to offset some of the grocery costs. Biggest advice is to expect to fail, there are no black thumbs only green thumbs needing to rinsed. You got this

I have a small garden, mostly in small beds or containers. I have had both successes and failures but I keep trying, I am still trying to figure out what grows best for my area. My grandson never understood the reason I wanted to grow food, until he tasted his first home grown tomato. Now he won't eat any tomatoes unless they are from my garden, he said the rest of them have no flavor. He also loves the garlic I grew last year so I planted a lot more this year.

Please grow whatever food you can!!! Even with no access to space or good light you can grow sprouts in a jar, and even that is so rewarding!!

My husband and I moved into his grandfather's home (after he moved to a nursing home) when we were in our early 20's. The 1/2 acre property was crammed full of fruit trees, vegetable garden beds, blueberries, several varieties of cane berries etc. We had very little money and were motivated to make use of the bounty. Once we began learning and growing we never looked back. In our late sixties now, we continue to grow as much as we can. In fact we expanded our vegetable garden last fall and can't wait to get seeds in the ground this spring. As for the superiority of homecooked meals from the garden - I couldn't agree more! Restaurant meals are a rare event for us now and we often end those meals feeling a bit (or a lot) disappointed and many dollars lighter. I will always be grateful for that early ready-made garden - all we had to do was learn by trial and error each season. There is nothing better than hands in dirt and fresh food from your own happy labor.

I don't think it could be said any better. I can't believe how different I feel when I'm gardening and out in the sun. It's so special being out there and watching the changes everyday!! And yes so extremely rewarding and peaceful!!! I love listening to my gardener you tube "friends" and seeing all your wins and losses as well. I learn so so much!!! Thank you! Gardeners rock!!! 😁🥰 We grew this, we loved it, we believed in it!!

My first 3 gardens produced less than 1 lb of food. My patio pallet at our condo died , I tried growing tomatoes on our next patio for 2 seasons and didn't have enough sun. We moved to AZ, got chickens, and I really started researching, watching videos, and gaining knowledge. Our garden in our new home grew to over 1000 sq ft and kept getting bigger. We moved again last year and are preparing for another now. I helped a friend discover the love of gardening using her space when I didn't have any. Our new home will have more than enough space for a garden larger than I would have ever before been able to imagine. I have found a community of friends who wanted to learn, and we meet monthly. Friends call and text for advice weekly. 10 years in, and I am amazed and blessed to have more than enough seeds, experience growing next to the beach and in the high desert. I have learned about soil health, no dig, and permaculture. I continue to seek a life that gives as much as it takes, that heals instead of diminishes, and allows me to work with my hands and steward the beautiful creation entrusted to us. I can't wait to see what my next garden teaches me.

Now, every time I get a fully ripe red bell pepper, I am going to think of it as my "gold star" moment. Thanks Jess.

I grow garlic because its simple. I fell like the gold star moment when i give garlic that i grow when i go take some garlic out to use its a good feeling i also cover crop with red beans that i just throw hand fulls in the soil after i pull garlic snack bean pods I grow tomatoes and ya i have had bad years for tomatoes but i can buy started plants I grow things like squish pumpkin Zucchini even baby watermelon Thanks to jess i am always trying to put sunflowers 🌻 in but every year only 1 comes up but its allways amazing Goal this year lattes Carrots Cucumber

I started gardening in a couple small pots on my apartment balcony about 4 years ago, upgraded a couple years ago in our suburban back yard, and this year is our first year now on 11 acres with plenty of room to grow a garden. Excited to continue this journey and grateful for all I’ve learned over the years Jess!

I am a gardener in central Saskatchewan, Canada. Yesterday it was -36 below C and today it is grey and cold and watching your channel helps me to live. LOL. Actually though. But what else helps me so much is I have a little greenhouse downstairs and I start plants in January. Planting seeds and watching them grow is so life affirming as is, lettuce that I am eating that I grew, as is seeing green, of hands in dirt even when it is from a bag. Planting seeds and watching them grow. It is how I started teaching my son about God. We would go out to the garden and i would dig a trench and he would put seeds in the ground and cover them. Then we would water them and wait. Just like prayers, I said. He went every day to see - skeptical. He is a very science brained boy. But then the seeds would pop up - and they would grow - and they would grow and they would feed us! We had kids in town that were ... kinda on their own, mad, wanting to break things because they were mad and I was worried for my garden. So I asked them to help me plant sunflowers. Would you know those sunflowers grew to be SO HUGE! Record breaking sunflowers nearly touching the power line above. Those boys took so much pride in those flowers. Sadly one of those boys passed away tragically - but it gave me comfort to know that me and those Sunflowers were some of the few moments of joy and pride he had in his life. Taking a flower pot and putting in some radish seeds will reap reward. Start small. I literally dug my garden out of the lawn little by little and now it is so glorious. Thank you, Jess, for what you do.

Every time I grow a healthy plant to harvest, it feels like I am 3 again and Santa just gave me all kinds of wonderful and tasty Christmas presents.

I too go into many sites and just observe and many times don’t comment. It is very interesting and at times worrisome some of the views by vloggers and subscribers. It explains some of the issues we are seeing in the U.S. today. I was hoping that the troubles reported in main media would not follow into homesteaders, but unfortunately many bring these issues along with their chickens and cows. I salute those RU-vidrs that strictly stay with the homestead theme as that is the reason why many of us watch in the first place and why we got rid of cable tv.

I’m 68 years old and have had gardens on and off my whole life. My husband and I have plots in a community garden in our neighborhood. We can’t dig in our back yard but the gardens are down the street and we are there almost everyday in the growing season. It bonds us. It heals us. And there is no better way to enjoy food than to grow it yourself. Yes it is hard work and sometimes it overwhelms but we just put our head down and keep gardening. I must say that Jess has given me a Mantra to live by when years ago she told the story of an overgrown garden that she was wanting to give up on. Her mother told her get out there even if it’s overgrown and you will find food and life. Seeds and gardens want to grow. Partnering with the growing life force of nature is so satisfying. Thank you Jess for gentle nudge and downright joy of taking us along in your garden.

Our gardening experience started 12 years ago when our 4 year old daughter was given a child’s garden set as a birthday gift. It came with a plastic planting mat with the holes you put the seeds in and a few packets of cheep seeds. It was so fun to plant that tiny little garden together as a family in our little suburban backyard. Picking the few vegetables that came as a result was such an amazing feeling. Planting those seeds planted a seed in us. We packed up and moved a few years later to a hobby farm out in the country and now grow and raise 80% of our own food for our family of 5. There is nothing more fulfilling…I truly believe it’s on of God’s greatest gifts to us. I will forever be grateful for that little garden set…it literally changed our lives!

This will be my 8th year growing a garden. My advice to anyone who wants to learn is to start with containers. I've grown so much food in the large plastic Tidy Cats litter tubs with drainage holes drilled in the bottom. I also recommend Sterilite totes with drainage holes 1 inch up from the bottom - you can grow a lot in a 18 gal tote and even create your own soil in it by composting in place! I also garden in raised beds, but my containers do better, thanks to trees that love to send their roots into my beds and steal all the nutrients. Gardening doesn't have to be expensive. (Also FYI if you have EBT benefits they can be used to purchase seeds and started plants, depending on the store.)

For 6 years restoring my yard, building raised beds provided my recovery path out of an abusive marriage. Two years ago I fell moving dirt via a wheelbarrow resulting in 6 day hospital stay, 4 surgeries and trauma that has put me on sabbatical. This video has encouraged me to work thru my fear and start working outside again very slowly with baby steps. I am only going to grow things I love and that bring me joy.

Years and years ago as a new bride I couldn't find a job the first year of marriage. I thought I could help supplement our food budget by growing a small garden. I took a pick axe and broke up about an 8 by 8 piece of ground. I grew a few veggies and I was hooked. I have grown a garden every year since 1980. I didn't even like tomatoes before I grew my own. I like you Jess, never had anyone to talk to about gardening. Yes their eyes would glaze over when I talked about it. When I found your channel I had a buddy who loved gardening too. Thank you for sharing your excitement over gardening. I found a kindred spirit! 😁

Hello, I am 62 years old, and I was introduced to gardening when I was 9 years old. I went to visit my great-great grandparents and I walked out to their garden and fell in love. They had green beans higher then 6 feet on trellises. Large tomato's and everything you could think of in their garden. They grew a year worth of food. The two weeks I was there I learned so much. When I got home, I started my garden and never looked back. You are correct, there's no instant gravitation. When you do start picking your own food, that's the self-worth to keep you going. I have had MANY fails, but the next year I remember and do something a little different. Thank you for your wisdom and for sharing.

For seven years, my waiting room was my classroom and Jess and a small handful of others were my teachers. Everything she has said here is true. I moved from CO to TN for the express purpose of having a farm. And while there is some bridging of data aquired to implementation, I cannot even begin to express how grateful I am for the things I learned while waiting. Last year, our harvest waa so abundant I could not keep up. New skills in food preservation had to be learned…and quick! Our rabbits and chickens ate like kings! We shared tons of food with our friend and family. But the reward came. Keep to it, don’t give up! Keep learning and grow with that garden! You won’t regret it!

80 yr old gardener blessed to find a young girl who shares my philosophy on gardening and life I feel a beautiful connection listening to your videos bless you 🙏👍

I’m not religious, but gardening is so spiritual for me. Watching things grow gives me so much joy! And learning from my environment, what works and doesn’t. I’m addicted! And how to be better at it is a purpose for me. I just love it!

I have been dealing with the anxiety and depression my entire life but when I am in the garden it makes me happy and I feel closer to God. It is my feeling that every part of nature , each blade of grass, every leaf on a tomato plant shouts the Glory of the Lord!

This will be my go-to video if anyone asks me " Should I start a garden?" You're a great teacher. I'm 64 and have been a gardener most of my life.This year is different as I'm paying off debts that hindered my ability to buy soil enriching items.2023 is the year of soil for me. We all fail at things, but if at 1st you don't succeed... try,try again.

Grew up in Chicago. Big apartment buildings with a small central lawn out back. Some older ladies from other countries grew vegetables in with the flowers! Fast forward.. young adult couple. We bought a small trailer and lived in a trailer court. since our trailer was old, we were put on the edge of the trailer court with the other older trailers. The blessing was there was room to have a small garden at the edge. That was our beginning. Now 40 years later we have a large garden, grow, freeze, and preserve much of our food. Inspired by this channel to redo our gardening practices. No more tilling. Cardboard and wood chips, Worms and flowers and a pergola to sit and enjoy God and his creation. Thanks for your inspiration!

I started gardening with my Grandma when I was 8, but I never really understood the knowledge that you get from the garden as a whole until much later when I had to garden out of absolute necessity. I was homeless. And while everyone who was homeless with me never prioritized food the way I did, I was able to help out my fellow homeless people with things from my garden patch that was tiny and right next to my tent. I learned so much over those years (yes years, 5y and 10 months to be exact). I learned that while the seed packet may tell you that most varieties of basically anything you can grow during the summer prefers to have full sun, you can in fact bring forth a substantial harvest by growing those same things in a thick forest, if only you find yourself a miniscule glade of sunlight. If you plant things on the south side of trees in that sunny spot, they will get enough sunlight to set fruit, though the fruit itself might be stunted a fair bit. None of my plants back then we're getting the recommended 8 hours of full sun. They would get maybe 2 hours, if I was lucky and it wasn't raining or overcast that day. I have harvested beefsteak tomatoes that were fully ripened and delicious, but that were only about the size of a half-dollar. I have harvested cucumbers that only ever made it to the size of a little gherkin pickle, but they were so flavorful and delicious. I learned so many ways to not do things, and persevered to do what most people thought was impossible or even stupid. I imperfectly canned my harvests too. In a very rustic way over an open fire with absolutely no temp control. Was that smart? Probably not, but I was stubborn like a bull back then and wanted to either prove that it's possible or disprove it to myself indefinitely so that I wouldn't try to revisit the idea. Luckily for me, I got to never entertain the idea again when I never could reach a full seal on anything. But I tried. And in gardening, like life itself, sometimes all you need to do is give it a real good try. You just might surprise yourself. PS- I got a friend to revisit my old camp a few years ago, and wouldn't you know it, my strawberry and blueberry patches are still there and doing quite well for themselves.

I can assure anyone out there that’s considering a garden or even edible flower beds or just pots…..you can do it cheap or expensive, it doesn’t have to be perfect or beautiful, you can spend all day or a little of your day…..the soil on your feet and hands, the smell of the earth, the sun on your face, the butterflies, bees and singing birds are pure therapy and there is nothing like grazing through the yard or garden and snacking on snap peas, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, baby cucumbers, green beans, sweet strawberries, juicy raspberries and whatever else you can find, it is pure bliss and next year you’ll want more ❤❤❤

Fifty one years ago I planted strawberry plants on the side of my best friends rental. I was hooked. I now plant tomatoes, zucchini, impatiens, roses, honey-crisp and fuji apples, pluerrys, craigs-crimson cherries, peaches, lemons, limes, elderberry's and even still, strawberries in my backyard. I have a one-third acre lot in a small town in Humboldt, County, California. I am so blessed that I often have great abundance with these foods. I love giving away my honey crisp apples. The look in the eyes of the people who bite into these apples says it all. God bless your family Ms. Jessica.

I have been married 20 years, and we have always grown whatever we can. Many of those years we were apartment dwellers and grew on windowsills or with grow lights. About 8 years ago we were able to sign up for a community garden plot, and we have learned so much through trial and error. The biggest wisdom earned so far is that by planting a diverse collection of plants, we can have success. Some years the weather is terrible for one thing, the next year it might be our biggest producer. We do it for the love of the dirt and the joy of the harvest! Thanks for your perspective, Jess!

"Don't grow a garden, become a gardener", another insightful saying from you added to my list! I've been gardening for 10+ years but I have fond memories of visiting my grandparents as a child. They always had a beautiful garden every year! They have since passed but I often hope they are proud of me as a gardener :) One of my favourite things about gardening is getting to taste what a fruit/veggie should really taste like. It's amazing how easy it is to get kids to eat their vegetables when they are fresh from the garden!

My husband found Jess on YT in the spring of 2020 to help me find solutions to cage my many tomato plants. We saw how she used cattle panels in her garden with such success and ease. He quickly picked up several panels and installed them in my 24’x48’ garden. They worked wonderfully! This year I plan to add a few more. It is so much easier to have permanent fixtures in the garden than those flimsy cages that need to be stored over the winter. I am thankful for my wonderful man that always helped me in my endeavors. Thank you Jess for inspiring us and showing solutions! I praise Jesus for the bounty on the table. ❤

I had grown small gardens and potted porch tomatoes off and on until 2019. That is when we found R&R and I was immediately drawn to Jess. I watched so many vlogs and couldn't wait for the next...My husband and I would exclaim "There's a new Roots!" when we would get the notification! December of 2019 we started looking for our forever home and some property. A few months in, Covid hit and grounded everything. That's when my waiting room turned into a classroom. I absorbed everything I could and found so many inspirational people that had a language that spoke directly to my heart. We were blessed to eventually find our homestead and moved in November of 2020. Our first full blown garden was started by seeds grown in our basement. We had a few raised beds and a massive 24ft tomato bed. It grew so lovely even though we had many failures. Despite those failures, we stayed true to what we held in our hearts and poured into it all we could. We are heading in to year three with close to 800 sq ft of growing space with plans to build and install two more raised beds, a no till three sisters garden and a pumpkin patch. I find so much joy in the harvest and the garden has become my dirt church. Thank you Jess for sowing that into my heart. 💚

Hi Jess! You asked for sharing your story here is mine. In a very cut down version. I’ve been married to a Marine for many years. No permanent home that’s for sure. I first started growing just flowers in our town house on my porch, our second home I did new flowers in our designated area. Then we had our kid. I decided that our kiddo needed to know where food came from so I built my first 4x4 garden (it’s not really allowed on base but I did it anyway 😂 we did pay the price having to restore the grass and take the box out when we left for doing that, but I wouldn’t change a thing about doing it). I grew peppers and cucumber and basil. I killed at least 3 basil plantsbefore tossing in the towel for awhile. My daughter would go out pull peppers and cucumbers off and eat them. Peppers at all stages too lol, our next location same size bed but build a tiered herb box (so many) I grew tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers. My cucumbers tasted like dirt the peppers never took off but everything else was amazing. I had a season I couldn’t grow because of moving around and the middle of growing seasons. So I researched and learned what I wanted to grow. Fast forward to now, we are retired from the military have a home this will be our 3rd season. I’m learning to build soil now. I’ve NEVER gardened in one place more than two seasons. So this is new territory. Our garden was 2 boxes the first year while we watched the sun and yard. 2nd year by the end we added 4 more growing spots and Greenstalks. This year I’m adding more. I want an herb garden and some more space to grow. We don’t have acreage but a larger backyard with established cherry trees. I long for a home in the countryside, it will happen but I’m preparing and learning and growing now. Last year was my largest harvest. We are still living off of garlic, onions, potatoes, peppers, and tomato products I’ve canned or preserved in other ways. You talk a lot about a calling from the lord to grow a garden. I felt that in 2013 and I haven’t looked back since. I’ve had the opportunity to grow in a few different states now different climates. I finally don’t kill basil. And I’m growing many if not most of my garden from seeds this year. I kept up with seed sales last year in preparation for this year. Welp that’s not a short story but it really is cut down! I definitely feel like I’ve got a unique story of growing wish I could share it in full! God bless you and your family. And thank you for sharing so much of your life with us so we may learn.

I started my gardening about 3 years ago after watching Jess rave about tomatoes. My husband built me two raised beds approximately 2x3 feet and up about 3 feet off the ground to have on my patio. I planted tomatoes, kale and Marigolds. I was so excited. Everything failed except the marigolds. Man was I discouraged. I kept on watching Jess’ videos and got my will to try again. Through these past few years I have removed most of my lawn in my backyard (we live on a half acre) and now have many garden beds for veg, berries, fruit trees and the pretty stuff too. This past year I actually had a bumper crop of tomatoes, many varieties, that I shared with family, friends, neighbors, and my husbands co-workers. I am full of garden love. Don’t ever give up, you will have success. The best advice I have for anyone is from Jess: turn your waiting room into your classroom. 💐.

I am 64, and grew up gardening and canning with mom. I hated it as a kid, because I'd rather be in the creek than pulling weeds😏 But as an adult, I've had a garden every chance I got! It warms your soul, gives you a great tan, makes you feel like a magician at times, and puts you on a level with God that's different than in daily life. Things I've learned? Patience, how to tend to my business, that corn WILL stand back up after wind and rain plow it over, hornworms are ikky and I cannot step on them (let the assassin chickens do it), and start your kids as soon as possible to help in the garden. 💜

I grew up in the country. We had horses. However, Mr. and Mrs. McPhee next property over had a 2 acre garden that they grew to feed themselves and their 9 kids and 21 grandchildren. Sunday dinner was always at their house with all the kids and grandkids after church. That is the life I wanted when I grew up. Shelling peas on the front porch and hearing all the stories. And Mr. McPhee with his cigar half burnt clenched in his teeth. When we had nothing, they took care of us. Community and love was what I learned from them. I am grateful to this day for every summer day I spent in the 95 degree heat learning from Mr. McPhee how to grow. And every humid morning that I learned to can in their summer kitchen. And every bloody carcass I learned to clean and put up for later. Every baby blanket I learn to crochet or knit. Every mechanical thing I learned to take apart and fix. Skills that have lasted me a lifetime that I have tried to pass on to my kids. We were poor and I never knew it until I got older.

I have been following you for years and still, even today, you are saying what I believe and living the way I’ve wanted to live for years. Thank you for sharing your home, gardening practices and knowledge. I too, cannot stand eating at restaurants when food from what I can grow at home tastes infinitely better. You are one of my gardening teachers and I thank you. Peace.

I have been a gardener for 50 yrs. I grew up with parents that that had the gift of a green thumb. I’m blessed to still have their knowledge. Yes, I have had failures and those YEAH moments over my 50 yrs. Plant a garden!

Anyone else want to see Jess plant the same climbing rose she had in her previous garden? It was so beautiful!

I put out a big garden every year and I know my neighbors think I am crazy because I will get in the garden and talk to the Lord and sing to him and a lot of times cry with my hands in the air but I don't care. I tell people the garden is my church. Thank you for just being you ❤

I started by helping my grandparents in their garden. They would have me hold my shirt out and they’d fill it with tomatoes and cucumbers ❤ Now, with my own garden, I try something new every year. This year, we’re expanding the garden into our holding pen that used to be home to my ❤horse. He lived to be 37, he was on special food so he stayed in the holding pen, to keep the other horses away from his food 🥰

I work as a graphic designer and one of my clients is a local health care group. They've set up several information sheets geared toward patient education for mental health. The last one that I did was "Developing New Hobbies" and I was extremely surprised that Gardening wasn't a topic that was listed. I felt like mentioning it and saying "wait a minute - gardening should be on here" No better mental health therapy out there! 💚

There is nothing better than a fresh tomato or a fresh cucumber. I don't know what I would do without my garden. I have always had a garden, it's hard to believe that people don't have a garden.

THIS GREENHOUSE……you know, I have seen this greenhouse from scratch to now and many many times in the videos ……but……I need to say …..it is SO BEAUTIFUL!! Miah did SUCH an AMAZING AWESOME job with this- he has true talent. Please let him know what beautiful thing he created! Can’t wait to see his workshop and the house he will build for you all!! ❤❤❤