About The Ancient City Gardener

                                          

 I'm Mark Biggs and I live near St. Augustine, Florida. St Augustine is known as the oldest city in the United States. Hence, the Ancient City Garden. St Augustine is also famous for Datil Peppers.

I'm an outdoors type. I'd rather be outdoors than indoors....even during Florida's hot summers. I enjoy gardening, fly fishing and tying flies, kayak fishing, biking and hiking the abundant Florida trails. I'm single, so when I get the urge to go, I have no restraints.

 I was first introduced to gardening at a very young age, by helping my grandmother landscape her tiny front yard. Later on, my mother helped me get interested in growing vegetables by letting me plant some radishes by our back fence. When I was in high school my parents bought 5 acres in the country and we grew a large garden and had a small flock of chickens. I loved the country life after being raised in a big city.

 As an adult, one day I picked up an issue of Mother Earth News and became interested in organic gardening. I learned how to grow food from a Mother Earth News  A-To-Z Home Gardener's Handbook that came out in Spring 1983. I still have this special issue, although at this time it is missing some pages. I have grown food organically ever since. I now do my landscape gardening organically, too.

This blog is a written record of how I garden. It may not be the best way to garden ... it may not be your way of gardening ... it is just my way of gardening. I don't use any chemicals. I try to let nature take its course. My lawn, if it can be called that, is mostly weeds and keeping them from invading my beds is a constant battle. I like having a wide variety of plants, ornamental and edible. Variety is the spice of life!

 I now live on 1.2 acres which gives me plenty of room to grow anything I like. Because of the state of our economy and government, I am trying to live more sustainably and efficiently by expanding my food production. This will include vegetable beds, a permaculture style food forest and a flock of chickens.

 So follow me on what will be for me, a life changing journey and maybe we can learn from each other.