This is a bitter sweet moment for me. I love my garden, but life has a habit of creating change.
Ten years ago we were living in the heart of Auckland city with a tiny house – the perfect kind for the first rung on the property ladder. We had two tiny boys and I was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. We decided we couldn’t stay there, it made sense to move. And so, with nervous trepidation we sold up and moved to the country.
This property ticked everything on the wish list – flat land for a garden, a big enough house for the boys to grow into, great water pressure, its own water supply and so much more. We felt so grown up moving to a home with a ensuite bathroom and walk in wardrobe. The only thing it didn’t have was the sea views that Hubby the Un-Gardener has longed for since before I even knew him. But there were dolphin tiles in the bathroom and that was a good enough sea view for me so I ticked that box too! We have since renovated the bathroom to a more modern style and so the ‘sea view’ was erased. To satisfy Hubby the Un-Gardeners wants from life I agreed we would look at moving again in 10 years to a more coastal property.
But I didn’t know then what I know now, I had no idea how my garden would grow and become part of my life story. Like the miller’s daughter in the fairy story Rumpelstiltskin, I quickly forgot my promise and time is up and Hubby the Un-Gardener has reminded me of it and I have to give up my garden. I love my garden beyond measure. I love that it has provided me with wonderful food – some things I never knew existed, others I never want to try again. It has helped to restore my health, through a good fresh whole food diet, good exercise, being in the sun absorbing all the vitamin D that is healing to an MSsy body. But is also gave me a career where one wasn’t possible in the ordinary sense. Because of the garden I have written three books and won an award as a public speaker. I’ve been on radio and TV numerous times. A career as a garden writer fits in so nicely around everything I have going on. Back then I would have never seen it coming.
The garden has humbly grown from a few small in ground beds to 36 well organised raised beds that are completely sustainable for our family to meet our vegetable needs. We eat like kings. I have found a way to manage such a large garden with minimal effort, and Hubby the Un-Gardener helping with the digging and heavy lifting.
The house itself has served us well, and I love living here. But a promise is a promise and with much reluctance, our house was listed on the market today. I am extremely grateful for the wonderful photos and drone videos taken of the property for the marketing of it. It is something I will always have – a moment in time when my garden was looking its absolute best after 10 years hard work.
But in the words of that great song Closing Time by Semisonic, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” And there will be a new beginning – a new garden. An even better garden, built on the experiences of this garden, all the “I wish I’d done that differently” will be rectified. It will be magnificent, and I’d love to take you with me into this new journey. I can’t say much about the new until we sell the old, but hopefully that will be very soon.
Come again soon – I’ll keep you updated as we ride this emotionally challenging wave down to the coast, but in the meantime we will garden on until the last possible moment.
Sarah the Gardener : o)
Check out here to view the listing and video: https://www.barfoot.co.nz/607476 Someone will be very happy here, just like we have been.
Best of luck in your future home and garden. I love reading about your garden.
Thanks so much – it will be an interesting journey to come. : o)
Hi Your posts and videos have been inspirational and a guide for me as a beginner to gardening, now in my 60s with a new section suitable to have an edible garden. I have learnt in life that you never know what is around the corner. Gardening in the last couple of years has brought me peace, so I hope you continue to be healthy and enjoy gardening and sharing it with others in this next phase of your life. I wish you and your family all the best for the future and hope you keep us in touch with how you tackle your next garden… Thank you so much
Thank you so much for your kind words. Gardening will always be a part of what I do – I love everything about it. The new garden should be a really amazing project, but it will be incredibly sad to say goodbye to this one. : o)
Sorry to hear you are moving, Sarah, I love your story and your one-step-forward, one-step-back progress reports. I will certainly be following your blog wherever you go.
It is a hard call. I’d love to stay, but as a family, moving is the right thing to do. I’m sure there will be just as much interesting things going on into the future and I will continue to blog about it. : o)
You make it sound relatively easy. I could not imagine leaving such an excellent garden and home, even for something better. It is good to hear that you are doing well with it, but I still can not imagine it. I never recovered from leaving my previous home seven years ago.
I have to admit I did shed a tear or two when writing this post. It isn’t going to be easy to do at all. : o)
Sarah, my heart goes out to you. You’ve put so much love and energy into your beautiful garden, which in turn lead to this blog and your wonderful books and speaking engagements. It must feel a little bit like launching your child a bit before their time. I know your new place will be equally wonderful, not because I have a crystal ball, but because, through following you, I know you’ll put heart and soul and a healthy dose of research into making your new home just as good. Best of luck with the transition. New schools for the boys, a new garden for you, and fresh sea air for all of you. xo
Thanks Alys. That is so sweet. There will of course be a new garden, but the good news is, it is still in the same community so the only thing changing really is our view. The boys will be still at the same schools. I think this will make this easier as we don’t have to adjust to a completely new area as well as sorting out a new home. I am horribly sad about my garden though. : o)
Oh that is great news, Sarah. Thanks for letting me know. That will surely ease things a bit. I would be horribly sad to leave my garden behind. I fully understand.
I have loved following you and your garden and look forward to sharing the journey to your new garden with you and your family. Every best wish that you find just the right property.
Thanks Fiona. I think the new place will be just as lovely as here, but this garden has been such a journey, it will be hard to leave. : o)
Lovely blog, you can take what you’ve learned to refine what you grow. The coast will be good for you too. An sad goodbye but an exciting new chapter in your life.
Lovely blog, you can take what you’ve learned to refine what you grow. The coast will be good for you too. A sad goodbye but an exciting new chapter in your life.
Thanks Angela. That is one of the upsides – changing the things that bug me, but yes it will be sad to say goodbye. : o)
Sarah, I love your attitude! It would be a wrench to leave that fabulous garden, but your next garden will be a wonderful adventure.
I am trying to be very brave and trying to keep the end in mind. : o)
It’s always hard to leave a garden but I do know you will build again! Best of luck!
I guess that is the best thing about a garden – it can be rebuilt easy enough – it is a tangible thing. : o)
You have made a difficult decision. Hopefully you can find a place with views and the garden.
Thanks. It wasn’t very easy but I guess it would never be easy. I’m looking forward to the new garden – it will be fabulous. : o)
And with a coastal garden comes a whole new set of challenges for you to meet, greet and send on their merry way. As long as you are surrounded by your loving family, all will be well and your new garden will benefit from the knowledge gained from the successes and failures of your existing one.
I wait with baited breath for your news as you embark on this latest adventure and I can’t wait to see your new garden in all it’s unSarahedness and as it develops and grows into an even greater achievement than the one you leave behind. You’ll be leaving behind a gift beyond value for the lucky new owners of your current home and that in itself is a pretty awesome thing to do 😀 x
The coastal garden will be interesting, but challenges mean learning and with gardening you never stop learning. It is still a scary but exciting project and I’m trying to hold it all together. I love it here, but I’m sure I will love it there too. : o)
Wow, what a heavy-hearted but exciting change! Your place looks beautiful and I know it will be really hard for you to say goodbye, but it will also be exciting to start a garden afresh elsewhere with all the things you know now. The possibilities are endless. I hope you get a good sale for all your hard work and that you find somewhere amazing that suits the whole family. =)
I think it will be very hard to say goodbye. I have already shed a few tears and we are still in the early days of this project! But the thought of the new garden is also exciting so I’m having crazy mood swings right now. : o)
I hope you will still be able to have a garden!
Absolutely. I’d be lost without one. : o)
Yes, you would!
There will be a new garden .. that’s for sure! Best of luck with the sale Sarah.
Thanks Julie. I would be completely lost without a garden so of course there has to be a new one in the deal. : o)
I have moved gardens more times than I can easily recall. It is not easy. Last time, I asked if we could rent a backhoe to bring my soil with me so as to not have to start rebuilding sad soil from scratch. (We didn’t rent a backhoe.)
I will be thinking of you during this time of hellos and goodbyes in your life.
I would love to take a large truckload of my lovely soil with me. I have just got it to the point that it is working for me without getting too weedy so it is easy to care for. There will be other soils…. : o)
There will be other soils. Soils with fewer Cabbage Looper eggs sleeping beneath the surface, perhaps.