My very first post!!! Nov 8 2010

Hello and welcome to my blog for my little home based business, Ellen's Fragrant Garden.  I love to garden and I can think of nothing else that I would rather do than have my hands in my garden and selling my products.  To me it is like sending out my garden to the world outside my yard.

I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and my yard is around a Zone3 or maybe a 5 on the south side of my home.  I love to grow all kinds of perennials and that includes my growing herb collection.  Right now I am focusing on my Mints for my Mint Blend tea.   I grow Chocolate Mint, Peppermint, Spearmint, Apple Mint, Lemon Balm and I also use Raspberry leaves.   For many years I have harvested my mints and given them as gift and I had so much favourable feedback that I will start to market my product.

The second product from my garden are what I call Forever Flowers.  Throughout the growing season (which is so short at times) I harvest and press flowers to be used in my product which is a bouquet of flowers that is decoupaged into a "suitable for framing " picture. 

Because I prefer to be as GREEN as I can be, my garden and all the products I produce are organic: which is important for my Mint Blend.  For my Forever Flowers, I use recyclable materials whenever possible.  At this point in time, I have a large stockpile of leftover election signs that were made of corrugated plastic.  I am building up my stock this week because I am going to my first Christmas Craft Sale.  This will be my first public appearance of Ellen's Fragrant Garden.  I'm getting pretty excited and my creative juices are flowing freely!

The third aspect of my business is that I wish to be a gardener...period!  I have found that sometimes homeowners just do not have time to garden...an unbelievable thought but very true.  I have some potential customers at this point, and they all say, I am too busy but I want to have a nice flowerbed, some shrubs, and I need help.  Boy, would I love to help them!!! 

So...do you see what I want to do?  I want to do what I love to do, get paid to do it AND create a
good life for myself and my family.  I have a dream that one day I will live on an acreage, have a great greenhouse that I can grow most of what I need for my customers along with 3 dogs, 2 goats, free range chickens and 5 cats.  Sounds like a great 5 year plan, to be financially secure, debt free and having time to enjoy ALL my children.
Thank you to all the Bookcrossers who have enriched my life with books, postcards, real handwritten letters and the most amazing little presents.  These are all strangers whom I have never met except as a bookcrossing ID.  It would also go on my list of things to do in my life...go to a Bookcrossing Convention.  How cool would that be??!!

So that is it, time to get back to work.  I have all kinds of things to do and some housework too.  My husband has been such a dear and helped around the house so that I can get my products ready for this sale this weekend.  I will be posting pictures of some of my endeavors and I will publish some pictures of my sale table before and afters.

Thank you for stopping in, see you soon.

Ellen