Hi, I’m Mike, and I’m so happy you’re here!
Born and raised in a small town in Pennsylvania surrounded by farms, meadows and forests I developed a fondness for nature at an early age.
Times were different then, kids could ride their bikes for miles without fear of any harm coming to them. Hardly a car would pass me by on my many journeys, the countryside was my park.
My grandparents were immigrants from Europe in the early 1900’s bringing with them such skills such as farming, carpentry and beer making.
My dad and I followed his dad becoming carpenters and builders. I was an only child, but nature provided me with plenty of company. Left to my own devices I kept busy building dams in the creek, building tree houses or baiting the end of a hook with bread balls to catch sunfish in the local ponds.
I’d bring them back to my grandmother who would fry them up in a pan for our lunch.
It was through my grandmother that I was introduced to vegetable gardening. I remember watching her year after year bending over the rows in her sun dress meticulously placing and spacing the seeds brushing a little soil over them as she went. She was always so proud of her vegetables when it came time to harvest. Initially I was delegated to hold the basket as she picked until she felt comfortable to let me pick.
I had to learn to pick, not just pull or yank. I kind of developed a reverence for the vegetables themselves. Thank you Ba Ba. My dad always kept a nice roof over our head, building one then selling, then building another etc, something I repeated in my own life. I always marvelled at what my parents and grandparents were able to accomplish with so little. My mom worked until she was 80, she was my greatest advocate and cheerleader and she taught me well.
I tell you all this because no one in my family were afraid to get their hands dirty, we were all doers. I was entrepreneur at age 10 selling Christmas cards. At age 12 I started my own weed pulling business and started propagating pine tree cuttings hoping I would be selling Christmas trees in a few years. At age 14 it was snow shovelling and bailing hay and straw on a local farm. At 15 I was selling shoes, age 16 I was cleaning the inside of a giant butter churn at the local creamery and the list goes on.
I received a BS degree from Delaware Valley College, now known as Delaware Valley University, GO AGGIES. Which by the way my dad paid for with two large stacks of US Savings bonds.
I went on to become a successful custom builder and was often involved with the placement of landscape materials and construction of several ponds. Always had time for a garden albeit sometimes very small.
Well even gardens have become subject to technology. I am looking to retire my 44 year old Troy-Bilt roto tiller and focus more on raised bed gardening and hydroponics. I’ve learned a lot along the way, had my share of mistakes and successes , always learning something new from each.
I will tell you this, that there is something very special about putting your hands in soil and planting something, it is extremely satisfying and rewarding. So put your boots on and let’s get dirty.
