You're listening to the Beginners Garden podcast. I'm Jill McShehehehe with Journey Withjil.net,

and my goal is to give beginning gardeners the tools they need to grow a rewarding, productive garden.

Music. The... Hi guys. I'm so glad you're here. I really am. This week's episode is number 80. And I thought, you know, for this one, I'd take a break from the nitty-gritty how-toes and share with you a higher view episode that you may just enjoy even more.

As I record each episode in the quiet of my home, you have no idea how much it means to me

when I hear from you,

whether by email or on Instagram or Facebook or through an iTunes review.

Some of your emails have touched me so deeply, and for that, I am so deeply grateful.

This is the third year of the Beginners Garden podcast, and early on in that first year, a gentleman

from Texas emailed me, and that email started an online friendship that I have come to truly

value. A retired engineer, it turns out he's actually cousins with a lady from the church

I grew up in, a tiny town in northwest Arkansas

called Green Forest. Small world, indeed. But what I've enjoyed so much in these last

couple of years of trading emails with him has been sharing our experiences and tests in our

garden. He grows amazing garlic and onions, and I find myself asking him for his

insider tips. And he's growing blueberries for the first time, so he's asked for my advice.

What I think I love most is his open-mindedness. He draws from his decades of experience, but he's

also like a sponge in that he embraces

organic gardening, but not in a rigid way.

It's been more of a process of testing and studying, and I love that.

We should all be so teachable.

Though our communications began as a result of him finding my podcast, I truly wish that I had

had him to guide me as I began my garden journey.

...