Cultivating Community Through Nature

As a girl growing up in small town Southern Indiana my family had lots of talents, one of those was growing things! Like many others this was the result of needing to feed growing families during the great depression.

Both of my grandparents had large gardens as did my own parents. My dad’s parents grew, in addition to many other things, strawberries that we helped to pick, while my mom’s parents planted cherry tomatoes. I remember my grandpa giving me a repurposed gallon sized  ice cream bucket and saying I could eat as much as I could pick.   Summers were always filled with planting, weeding, breaking beans, harvesting, and canning!  There were also beautiful brightly colored flowers, One of my grandmas had pink peonies that went all around the side of her house, my other grandma had pink and purple impatiens in hanging pots all along her front porch with a large planter of geraniums sitting on the ledge.

Summer holidays were spent in the garden in hopes of homemade Ice cream, sweet tea, and maybe a strawberry pie when we were done!  My brother and I were often assigned tasks like weeding the garden, or picking green beans.  I must be honest here and say, these were not chores I would ever have chosen!  Gardening was not my favorite activity but if I complained I could count on hearing “you wont be complaining when it’s time to eat now will ya?!” The answer to that was absolutely not!  There is just something different about home grown fruits and veggies, and if I’m being honest, a little bit of pride in knowing I helped!  Now when I look back at those summers I don’t think about the back aches of being bent over picking beans or weeds, I don’t remember the things I didn’t “get” to do because of the garden.   I do remember breaking beans on the back porch, I remember canning tomato juice for fall chili, I remember finding new ways to use and preserve zucchini, and now I know I learned a few skills, (perhaps unintentionally), and I remember time together with my people.   

The first house we bought that had a big enough space I put out a garden. My dad brought up his rototiller, my girls were excited to play in the dirt and spend time with their Papaw, and planting seeds became a lesson in Gods creation and provision.  As time has continued to speed along and we find ourselves busier and busier we need ways to ground us and reconnect with our family and just slow down a bit to enjoy Gods creation.   Anthizo Farms was born out of that desire. Anthizo is a Greek word meaning “to bloom”.   We want Anthizo Farms to be a place that is set apart to slow down, enjoy each other, enjoy creation, a little beauty, create memories, and allow relationships to Bloom!