When we first started working on The Compact Garden, people would ask us: “Why a book? Why now? Aren’t there already gardening books out there?”

The answer is simple, but it took us a while to put it into words.

We wrote this book because we believe that growing your own food, even in the smallest space, genuinely changes things. And every copy out there feels like another little garden starting somewhere. That means the world to us.

We never set out to write a book. We were just two people growing food in a compact space, sharing what we learned on social media, and one day, someone from a publisher reached out. We almost said no.

Who were we to write a book? We make ASMR videos and grow vegetables and share recipes. The idea of writing an actual book felt overwhelming, intimidating, and frankly, terrifying.

But then we thought about all the messages we get from people who say things like: “I live in an apartment and I thought I couldn’t garden.” Or “I have a tiny balcony and nowhere to grow food.” Or “I always wanted to grow something but I didn’t think I had space.”

These messages were the seed that grew into The Compact Garden.

We realized that if a book could help even some of those people start growing food, then the fear and the effort were worth it.

What we learned about writing a book

Writing a book is completely different from anything we’d done before.

With social media content, you post something and if it doesn’t work, you post something else tomorrow. With a book, you’re committing words to paper (or digital pages) knowing they’ll be out there in that form for years. Maybe decades. That responsibility was humbling.

We learned that writing clearly about gardening is harder than actually gardening. You have to think about every step, things that are intuitive to us after years of growing food aren’t obvious to someone picking up a gardening book for the first time.

We learned about the patience required. The book took much longer than we expected. Writing a chapter, getting feedback, revising, getting more feedback, revising again, it’s a process that demands you show up.

And honestly? We learned that our experiences and our knowledge actually matter. That what we’ve figured out through years of growing food in a compact space is worth sharing. That people want to learn from us. That realization was both empowering and emotional.

How small space food growing actually changes your life

But the real thing, the thing that kept us going through the entire process, is knowing that growing food changes people.

It’s not just about having fresh tomatoes or herbs or peppers, though that’s wonderful. It’s deeper than that.

Growing food in a small space teaches you that you’re capable of more than you think. You prove to yourself that you can create something from nothing. You plant a tiny seed and through your care and attention, it becomes food. That’s powerful.

It teaches you patience in a world that moves too fast. Gardens don’t hurry. You can’t rush a tomato to ripen or force a pepper to grow. You learn to slow down and work with nature’s timeline instead of fighting against it.

It connects you to the seasons in a way that modern life usually doesn’t allow. You notice when spring arrives because your plants tell you. You feel summer because the garden is demanding water. You recognize fall because harvests change. You’re not just existing in the world, you’re participating in it.

It gives you independence and agency. You’re not completely dependent on grocery stores or supermarkets or supply chains. You can grow something you eat. That’s freedom, even if it’s just a few herbs in a pot on a balcony.

And maybe most importantly, it creates hope. When you grow something, you’re literally betting on the future. You’re saying, “I believe this seed will grow. I believe I can care for it. I believe there will be a harvest.” In a world that often feels overwhelming and uncertain, gardening is an act of faith and hope.

Our gratitude

We want to say: thank you. To everyone who bought a copy, who read it, who grows food in a small space because of something they read in our pages—thank you.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to write this book. Grateful for everyone who supported us through the process. Grateful for what gardening has taught us and what it continues to teach us every season.

And we’re grateful that somewhere out there, maybe in a small apartment, or on a narrow balcony, or in a sunny corner of a kitchen, our book helped someone plant their first seed.

That garden starting somewhere? That changes everything.

Thank you for being part of this journey with us.If you want to start your garden the way we did, get your copy of “The Compact Garden” at your local bookstores, indigo, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. This book works wherever you are no matter the space and it’s available worldwide 💚