Last year I did what I always do. I got swept up into the garden catalogs and ordered seed packets, seedlings and plants. By the time they came, I was well over it. The joy of the order was greater than the joy of the planting. But this year will be different. I am a motivated gardener. And I have found some mentors. I will be giving new meaning to the words "Victory Gardener."

Anybody who knows me understands that there is no green thumb here. For some reason, I am able to grow roses. I think they just don't know they aren't weeds so they just keep coming up. But I have no skill at growing prize-winning tomatoes or bushel baskets of zucchini. This is my year. And in typical Andrea style, I don't have the sense to start small. Like the Oprah Winfrey show "Give Big," I am going big or going home.

This year I am going to plant a kitchen garden with the help of my new friends, some of my fellow Food and Society Policy Fellows. Roger Doiron, the founder of Kitchen Gardeners International (www.kitchengardeners.org) and Rose Hayden-Smith, a master gardener and developer of garden programs for youth, will guide me and keep me motivated.

Bryant Terry, co-author of "Grub" and the upcoming "Organic Soul" cookbook, and Arnell Hinkle, who runs the California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program, will coach me in taking my bounty and turning it into great, healthy meals.

Why am I doing this when I have access to anything I could ever want to feed my family? I can pay for fresh produce, and I have a car that can take me anywhere I want to get it. Working with the other fellows and learning more about the power of fresh local foods, in boosting the health and well-being of a community -- socially, economically and holistically, has me inspired.

I admit that in the past I have been a gardening train wreck. By week three, I lose interest or start traveling and that is the end of that. The difference this time is the opportunity to learn and to come up outside of myself. This time it's not just about the basil, it isn't about the jalapenos. I know the link between healthy food and good health.

My dear husband would prefer that I just go buy the stuff. He compares my garden enthusiasm each year to buying a puppy for a kid who really doesn't want to take care of it. Oh, you naysayer, man of little faith.

My strategy is to do a little bit in my own yard. And then for the bigger bounty, I am going to go to the Allen Neighborhood Center community garden and grow. I get to learn how to do it with a safety net. The great news is that if I am the least bit successful (yes, I have enough sense to be measured in my expectations), I get to give a lot of it away.

It snowed this past weekend, but the idea of me with a big straw hat tending to my garden made me smile. Visualizing myself canning and putting up things in the fall has me giddy. (I am really being optimistic now). And by writing about my experiences, I hope it will encourage you, too. Plant something. Grow food. And if you have mad gardening skills, go somewhere that you can share it with people who need to know how to grow and eat fresh. Can't do either? Then support your local farmer's markets. Buy for yourself and buy for the people in your neighborhood who can't get to the market. Going old school with fresh foods is empowering, and healthy. Everybody deserves fresh, healthy, affordable and accessible food. If I can try, so can you. Get out there and make it happen.

Andrea King Collier is a Gary native who lives in Lansing, Mich. Her book, "Still With Me," was published by Simon and Schuster. Contact her at andrea@andreacollier.com.