My Health Journey
Today, healthy eating isn't something I struggle to maintain—it's simply part of my everyday life.
But it wasn't always this way.
In 2021, a health crisis landed me in the hospital for four days and forced me to take an honest look at where my life was headed. I was dealing with high blood pressure, liver disease, excess weight, and very little energy. At one point, I was even warned that I could eventually need a liver transplant if things didn't change.
That experience became the turning point in my life.
Discovering the Power of Nutrition
When I came home from the hospital, I knew I couldn't keep living the way I had been.
One of the very first changes I made was to stop drinking alcohol. At the same time, I began searching for a way of eating that would truly nourish my body instead of simply helping me lose weight.
That's when I discovered Dr. Joel Fuhrman's work on nutrient-dense eating.
Instead of counting calories or following another diet, I began filling my plate with foods rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber while eliminating highly processed foods.
Those daily choices became new habits.
Over the months that followed, my blood pressure returned to a healthy range, my liver disease reversed, I lost 85 pounds, and my energy gradually returned.
Nutrition didn't just change the number on the scale.
It changed my life.
Making Healthy Eating Sustainable
I already had a Tower Garden before my health journey began, and I enjoyed growing fresh food at home. But after changing the way I ate, I started using it in a completely different way.
Large salads quickly became a daily habit, almost always for lunch. Because leafy greens became such an important part of that routine, I found myself harvesting from my Tower Garden almost every day.
As I embraced a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle, I began using my Tower Garden harvests in much more than my daily salads. I was harvesting greens and herbs for soups, skillet meals, grain bowls, and many of the simple recipes I prepared throughout the week.
Tower Garden didn't heal me.
Nutrition did.
What Tower Garden did was support those new habits by making it easy to harvest fresh, nutrient-dense ingredients that became part of my everyday way of eating.
What My Life Looks Like Today
Today, this way of eating no longer feels like a diet.
It's simply how I live.
Every week, I prep a few simple ingredients that make it easy to build my daily lunch salads and enjoy healthy meals throughout the week.
But healthy living has become about much more than food.
As my health improved, I gradually added other habits that support an active lifestyle, including strength training and line dancing. Each healthy choice made the next one a little easier, and over time those small daily habits completely changed the direction of my life.
I don't strive for perfection.
I've simply built routines that make healthy eating a natural part of my everyday life.
Why I Created Vertical Hydroponic Garden
As friends and family watched my health improve, they naturally began asking questions.
How do you grow your greens?
What do you eat every day?
How do you keep healthy eating from feeling overwhelming?
Those conversations inspired me to create Vertical Hydroponic Garden.
This website is where I share the practical system that works for me—from growing fresh food at home to preparing simple, nutrient-dense meals that fit into everyday life.
My goal isn't to convince everyone to eat exactly the way I do.
It's to show that healthy eating can become much more manageable when you build simple habits and create an environment that makes those habits easier to maintain.
Whether you're growing your own food or simply looking for practical ways to eat more nutrient-dense meals, I hope you'll find ideas here that encourage and inspire you on your own journey.