The Webster Garden

The Webster Garden-Where Our Love of Gardening Took Root

Before The Farm Garden came to be, there was The Webster Garden. This is where things really started.

We bought our first home in Webster, South Dakota in 2016. One of the things that drew us to the house was that it already had a designated garden space — nothing fancy, but it was ready to go. In the spring of 2017, we were newly married and putting in our first big garden together. It didn’t take long for us to realize how much we enjoyed it.

That garden just worked. Everything we planted grew — beans, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, onions, garlic, carrots, beets, squash, and gourds. It was the kind of garden you don’t forget because it produced so well, year after year.

Once we saw how much food we were pulling from it, we knew we had to learn how to preserve it. That’s when we got serious about canning. We relied heavily on the Ball Canning and Preserving Book, and honestly, we still do. It covers everything from safety basics to tested recipes and gave us a good foundation without being overwhelming. If you're new to canning, I highly recommend it.

The Webster garden was also where we grew garlic for the first time — and it went crazy. We pulled over 100 bulbs that year, and they were huge. Definitely one of our most successful crops from that space.

In 2021, we sold our house and moved to Watertown to be closer to the farm. While we’ve built new garden spaces here — and expanded a lot — we still talk about that original garden in Webster. It was our starting point. And even though we’ve moved on from it, it shaped how we grow and preserve food today.