The founder and creator of The Garden Alchemy. I’ve been gardening since I was about 11 years old, but I didn’t really fall in love with it until around 10 years ago. What started as “this is kind of fun” slowly turned into “okay wait, this actually matters to me.”

I garden in Zone 6a, which means spring keeps you on your toes. Warm one day, frost the next. And yes, I’ve lost an entire crop to a hail storm. Standing there watching your hard work and money get shredded is humbling.

I like having a plan. I love a timeline. I will absolutely map things out. And then, if we’re being honest, I’ll still pivot when the weather decides to do whatever it wants. That’s just how short season gardening works.

I grow a little bit of everything. Vegetables, herbs, flowers. I preserve what I can, dry what I can’t can, and I keep chickens in the burbs because apparently I enjoy a challenge. Someday I’d love a small farm, but right now I’m very loyal to my backyard beds.

Outside the garden, I craft, I cook, and I spend time with my family. Most of what I grow ends up in our kitchen because honestly, store bought tomatoes are an abomination.

What frustrates me most about gardening advice online is how little of it speaks to Zones 5 and 6. We do not have the same season as warm climate gardeners. Our timing is tighter. Our frost is real. Our hail does not care about your seedlings or feelings.

People ask me all kinds of gardening questions. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll go down a research rabbit hole until I do. I love a good info dump. I love understanding why something works. The Garden Alchemy grew out of that energy.

This is practical gardening with a little sarcasm, a little humor, and a whole lot of knowledge. And yes, we take tomatoes very seriously here.