Since the age of 10, I have been curious about gardening and how to growth things. I lived on an island outside of Detroit called Grosse Isle. I was fortunate enough to have a large glass greenhouse to experiment growing different plants young age. Funny story, my mom would tell the same story when I was older, ” Chad was growing weeds but he thought they were plants. ” The property had blackberry bushes and apple trees. That is where I learned how to make clobbers and pies. The time on the island inspired to pursue the landscaping as a career. I began a lawn service at the age of 10 and by the age of 18, I was running a landscape business. As I entered college, I realized that wasn’t the place for me and drop all my classes after the first day but to be fair, I didn’t give it a chance either.
After spending nearly 40 years at some capacity in the landscape industry, I finally left it. It was a bittersweet moment, I loved the work, didn’t always love the customers. During those 40 years, I owned a garden center, growing facility, five online retailer stores, lawn mower shop, organic fertilizer business, and about 10 other things. I had several ideas that I executed that were successful but nothing was more successful than my ” Christmas Tree” business.
I really miss the part of being connected to nature until about three weeks ago. My squad, 4 guys and an occasion girl moved into a farmhouse on 10 acres and I thought to myself, I should start a farm to table experience for our household. As my life usually goes, that afternoon, a Burpee Seed Catalog arrived at the house. The property has about six raised planters that they must have used for growing herbs and some vegetables. There is also apples trees, peach trees, blueberry bushes and a few other trees I have not identified yet.
My goal to to grow the right amount of food that offers a fresh alternative rather than buying the food from the only real option, Walmart. I also love when I cook to have color and texture in the meals, that is the creative side of my brain that finds satisfaction in some of the simplest of things.
Kaleidoscope Carrots :Trying to trace the origins of the modern orange carrot is like looking through a kaleidoscope. Shapes and colors reflect and refract, and the more time you spend looking, the more they change. The carrot’s geo-genetic story starts with a white and wild bitter root, touched by the sweet yellow sun of the Middle East, growing under purple mountains and bright vermillion sunsets, its seeds passed by thousands of hands of many hues. This prismatic mix reflects the colorful evolution of the carrot. Find them here.
