My name is Scot Poirier and I am absolutely crazy about growing food in the garden. Actually I’m nuts over anything that grows in soil to be honest with you. There’s just something in me that loves all things garden. I can’t help it. It’s what I long to do everyday. What’s ironic is that my last name has something to do with my love for growing things. Poirier is a French name meaning pear tree, of all things. Who knew? I absolutely love that my name reflects my passion for growing food. It has captured my imagination!

What’s funny is that when I was a kid I absolutely hated vegetables. In fact if it was green I was suspicious.

Dinner at my house as a kid was the most unpleasant time of the day. I dreaded it! We had a vegetable prepared each time we ate. In my mind veggies were the worst invention, ever! I was forced to choke down this awful stuff if I wanted to see the sunrise the next day. So I’d wait until my life was on the edge of the abyss. This typically took about an hour for my Dad to convince me that my end was absolute. Then, and only then would I finally choke down these cold and mushy things that were supposed to be good for me.

That’s my horrible life as a kid. But something changed for me in my twenties. I mean I had always had a love for things that grow in the soil, but never had the opportunity to grow vegetables or anything outside at all. Then in 1987 we purchased our first home. And that’s when everything changed for me.

It all started when I looked over my neighbor’s fence and saw a vegetable garden. All I could say was, “wow!” It was just awesome. It was lush and green. In that moment I was like, I want to do that in my yard. So, the next spring I planted my first tomato plant. I chose a tomato because that was one of the few garden vegetables I liked. It was awesome to dig my first hole in the ground and plant my one Beefsteak tomato.

And here’s what happened: At harvest I picked one tomato. That’s right, one lousy, scrawny cherry tomato from a Beefsteak tomato plant. Oh I ate it, but it was most disappointing.Here I am twenty-six years later, in love with vegetables, unless you count eggplant as a vegetable. I know that I risk offending some of you when I say this, but eggplant should not be in the human food chain. I’m sorry if my words hurt you in any way. But here I am, after all these years, a dedicated gardener who has learned a lot about how food grows. And now I get to share my passion with you about how to grow healthy food successfully year after year.

Life is good!