About
Rock Wall Garden
Plants, animals and autism…
Rock Wall Garden has grown a lot from our beginnings selling garden starts and produce, and now features hands-on crafting events, as well as hands-on craft kits for sale online. But it began as an all-absorbing passion for my son Derek and me, Bonnie Stewart. We are a couple of "hobbits" who are content with the simple comforts of home and country living.
Derek discovered his love for plants in the summer of 2017. He had begun work at the Tripp Family Farm, in Richmond Utah, bottle feeding calves. But when they grew up, the plants in the greenhouse became his "children" The plants take after him -- beautiful, tall, strong, living things who, like him, do not communicate in words. Derek has severe, non-verbal autism.
At the time, I homeschooled Derek, so he was free during daylight hours to do as much work as possible around the greenhouse and gardens outside. We tried to do our work without power tools for the most part, even though it took longer. Derek helped build the rock wall around the garden, but if it hadn't been for Scott Tripp and his helper Vernal coming to our aid at summer's end, he would still be working on it!
The Tripps gave Derek the best kind of help, for they gave him opportunities to improve himself. And yet, every single day they treated him as though he had already arrived! As a parent, I want to see that Derek makes profitable and beautiful the space set aside for him.
Even though Derek was sometimes distracted and prone to discouragement, everyone always lent him a hand. It was a great moment after harvest, when together we would dump that last huge grain bag of leaves onto the garden, and drive away to our favorite burger place!
Even though Rock Wall Garden began primarily a project for Derek and me, we would have stalled long ago if it hadn't been for the dependable help from my family and the Tripps, who have graciously provided us with greenhouse space. We have my husband, Brian to thank for the custom blacksmithing that enhances our space and goes with our eclectic country vibe. Hobbits are not great with technology, so a shout-out also goes to Brian for his computer skills that have made this web site possible.
