After a few more house moves over the next year and a half (5 homes in total) we finally settled into a house previously owned by an orchid grower. He had passed on several years ago so the gardens were anything but immaculate but it did hoard some interesting things from its past.

Two bores, a plethora of garden pots, bundles of fertilisers and a veggie patch that screamed for some hard labour and attention. Part of the reason we chose that place was for the potential the gardens held. I'd love to tell you that we left that place in schmiko condition yet while it never became the masterpiece it was a great start and helped us cut our gardening teeth.

We've now been gardening here in our current location for the past 5 years and my hobby took on another level because of it. A friend lent me a book on Australian natives prior to us starting here and if he hadn't I would have continued thinking they were boring, bland substitutes for the exotics that my parents generation cultivated.

I've tried, and am still trying, new methods and concepts that may seem a little out of the box for most gardeners but that's what our hobby is all about, isn't it? Learning and failing forward. For me, the journey's only just begun and the 14 years I've enjoyed thus far is really just my adolescence period. I'm certainly looking forward to the next 14 and beyond.

So, how long have you been plying your craft? Was there a defining moment that you could trace back and unequivocally state "This was the day I started gardening!"?