Gardening – The art and science of feeding the left and right brain!

Hello! I am Akila Venkat living in the Bay Area. I am a product manager by profession and love to solve problems. Garden is my go to place to find solutions to my ideas, small and large. Often my brain is on an over drive, trying to optimize results in my garden.  However nature has its own way, and I have learnt to give in and not be too worried with the results.

Gardening offers several spontaneous and delightful moments. There is magic in watching a seed sprout, something more magical in the first flower and fruit. My heart sings knowing that I can expect a bounty, when I see bees move from one flower to next doing their job. Most of all its the satisfaction in harvesting a few minutes right before I cook, knowing that my “yard to table” is at its peak flavor and  nutrition. Deep within, I feel grateful for all the abundance!! No matter how my day goes, a few minutes tending to the garden restores me to balance!

Although I’ve always been interested in growing plants, in my younger years, I was mostly tending to ornamentals and flowers.  I  started the journey on growing my own edibles when I became more aware of our food production cycle and our depleted soil. Our family started eating mostly organic for better health and energy. The quest to learn to produce my own had begun, when we moved to a home with a sizable lot, at least so in the Silicon Valley. I started off with simple, easy to grow edibles in about 30 sq ft space, and now expanded to approximately 600 sq. ft of growing space as of 2019, not counting the ones growing in several containers and trees.

I highly value food that is real, packed with nutrition, in peak flavor, and prepared fresh for my family. Good quality food is a foundation for optimum health! I hope my experiences and journey with growing edibles in limited spaces inspires you all to give it a try. 

Thanks for stopping by. Do drop me an email, or add a comment on the blog. I would love to hear your journey with edible gardening, even if you are just starting off.

Right brain and Left brain – Gardening feeds both!!

for the love of nature

AKILA VENKAT