This post originally aired with Velvet Panic 6/
6/16
If I’m not writing, I can often be found outside in my yard, tending my veggie garden. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know this of course, LOL https://www.instagram.com/deannawads/ And when it’s not gardening season, I’m staring at all my pretty canning jars full of the goodies I grew, or looking at seed catalogs and planning my garden. 
My hubby and I have been growing tomatoes since we got married in 1997. My FIL gave us these cool Earthbox© containers (http://earthbox.com) and they are ideal for planting peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. And since they are virtually maintenance free once you get them planted, over the years we have amasses over twenty boxes where we grow anything from onions to eggplants. This year we added a big raised bed for carrots and even made our own potato barrels—a no fuss way to grow tons of spuds.
There is something so rewarding about watching a seed develop into a plant and then harvesting its bounty. It’s my catharsis. As a Taurus and an earth sign, I feel very connected to my garden. It grounds me, no pun intended. If I’m having a bad day, I can just go out and look at my garden, prune a few plants, smile and savor all the wonderful growing things. It’s so peaceful.
Of course come August and September I’m so inundated with produce I become an exhausted canning queen.
Gardening is sort of like writing a book. It begins with the planning and dreaming phase—like when I’m staring at seed catalogs in February. Then there is lots of hard work as you “plant” your ideas on the page. Revising and editing are akin to watering and weeding your plants all summer. And finally when it’s all done, you have this wonderful thing that you want to share. Like a bountiful harvest, a good book is refreshing to the soul.
~Deanna
