Fed up with the garden

[masseyrider]

Except for corn, taters, peppers I'm rototilling everything. I give up. It all got powdery mildew and collapsed.
Weather, whatever... it wins. I can get 10 corn for $2 at the local grocer and cukes and tomatoes for $0.89. What I wasting time fuel and equipment for.
Beautiful Washington cherries are $2.44 a pound. The shot gun shells to defend mine cost me more than what I'll spend in store.

 

[GeneV]

My goose (embden breed) lays very consistently sized 143-146g eggs
Here you can see 3 duck eggs in the back (73-76g), a bunch of chicken eggs (most in the 64-69g, one hen lays about 61 often, and someone very occasionally lays in the upper 50's), with the one-is-not-like-the-others goose egg:
View attachment 812102

Cooking with a goose egg is interesting - there's a fine line how much force does it take to crack it open vs splattering it!
I usually use the duck eggs to make pasta. IMO they're a bit strongly flavored for eating eggs straight.

We got ducks and geese too. The goose stopped laying lately, but the ducks are still consistent. I love both of their eggs, and eat the duck eggs every morning. It's all about how you prepare them.

 

[LD1]

Except for corn, taters, peppers I'm rototilling everything. I give up. It all got powdery mildew and collapsed.
Weather, whatever... it wins. I can get 10 corn for $2 at the local grocer and cukes and tomatoes for $0.89. What I wasting time fuel and equipment for.
Beautiful Washington cherries are $2.44 a pound. The shot gun shells to defend mine cost me more than what I'll spend in store.

I agree on most parts.....but I still do corn and tomatoes

For me.....yup. Produce at the grocery is cheap. And if I cannot taste a difference, why bother. Onion, green pepper, jalapenos, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, etc I simply cannot tell a difference.

But Im a snob when it comes to sweetcorn. I have very rarely had good sweetcorn outside of my garden. Its picked too late, or sits too long. Tough and chewy, starchy, etc. A "few" local farmers markets or roadside stands have good corn. But its hit or miss.

And when asking someone what kind of sweetcorn they have and their answer is either "yellow" or "bi-color".....sorry that didnt answer my question. Looking for an answer like serendipity, bodacious, peaches n cream, etc.

Currently the 3 varietys I plant are
1. Trinity. Its a good early bi-color. Not the earliest I have found as its a 70 day corn.....but its the earliest I have found that is worth a crap.
2. Jackpot. Very good and 82day
3. Kandy Corn. 89 day yellow. Also good.

Can plant all 3 at the same time and have a staggered harvest of ~3-weeks where there is always fresh corn comin ready.

And tomatoes.....what is bought in the store is flavorless and the wrong texture. Sorry, you shouldnt be able to cut a mater with a butter knife. and they should be bright red inside, not pink

 

[masseyrider]

I agree on most parts.....but I still do corn and tomatoes

For me.....yup. Produce at the grocery is cheap. And if I cannot taste a difference, why bother. Onion, green pepper, jalapenos, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, etc I simply cannot tell a difference.

But Im a snob when it comes to sweetcorn. I have very rarely had good sweetcorn outside of my garden. Its picked too late, or sits too long. Tough and chewy, starchy, etc. A "few" local farmers markets or roadside stands have good corn. But its hit or miss.

And when asking someone what kind of sweetcorn they have and their answer is either "yellow" or "bi-color".....sorry that didnt answer my question. Looking for an answer like serendipity, bodacious, peaches n cream, etc.

Currently the 3 varietys I plant are
1. Trinity. Its a good early bi-color. Not the earliest I have found as its a 70 day corn.....but its the earliest I have found that is worth a crap.
2. Jackpot. Very good and 82day
3. Kandy Corn. 89 day yellow. Also good.

Can plant all 3 at the same time and have a staggered harvest of ~3-weeks where there is always fresh corn comin ready.

And tomatoes.....what is bought in the store is flavorless and the wrong texture. Sorry, you shouldnt be able to cut a mater with a butter knife. and they should be bright red inside, not pink

My tomatoes got blight from the bottom up even though they were tied up off the ground and all the low leaves and stems were pruned out. Egg plant has about 3-4 yellow sickly leaves each. Even the peppers are screwed. Plants look great. The peppers themselves have black worms inside that leave the inside coated with black excrement.
This is the worst year I have ever had in the garden.
Everything is planted well spaced with good air circulation. I just have had enough.

 

[blehmann]

I gave up about a week ago. Our well water is so hard that plants would rather die than filter out the gyp to get the moisture. No rain, 110 degree highs, and no end in sight. This summer has been a bummer.

 

[oldballs]

At over 90 YO, I can say that gardening is a way of life........a hobby maybe..........a cash losing deal however. Each year of late, I debate whether I want to garden.......but .....I always come back to it. There is a lot of sweat and grief dealing with the weather, one's health, the critters that roam around, the insects...etc.

But my family and my neighbors enjoy the fruits of my labor and I love seeing the seasonal flowers and veggies grow.

Plus, it keeps me rather "fit" without joining some health club or sitting around shooting the chit with other old gezzers.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[bigtiller]

At over 90 YO, I can say that gardening is a way of life........a hobby maybe..........

Plus, it keeps me rather "fit" without joining some health club or sitting around shooting the chit with other old gezzers.

Cheers,
Mike

I agree. A secret to a long life is to take a few deep breathes, and get the old pump to thumping hard in our chest to burn out some of the monsters floating around in our bodies.

 

[oldballs]

I agree. A secret to a long life is to take a few deep breathes, and get the old pump to thumping hard in our chest to burn out some of the monsters floating around in our bodies.

Yep......... hoeing in the morning until the sun starts beating down on one will do that. So far, things are looking pretty good. This area of eastern Kansas has had some evenly spaced rain.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[rswyan]

Where did you get that fabric? All I can find locally is more cloth-like and doesn't look like it would stand up to sunlight or foot traffic very well.

Amazon:

Agfabric Landscape Fabric Weed... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0177IQA6K?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

They have it in various widths and lengths.

These are what we used to staple it down:

200Pcs Landscape Staples + 200Pcs... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WW57CJR?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[wmfamily]

At over 90 YO, I can say that gardening is a way of life........a hobby maybe..........a cash losing deal however. Each year of late, I debate whether I want to garden.......but .....I always come back to it. There is a lot of sweat and grief dealing with the weather, one's health, the critters that roam around, the insects...etc.

But my family and my neighbors enjoy the fruits of my labor and I love seeing the seasonal flowers and veggies grow.

Plus, it keeps me rather "fit" without joining some health club or sitting around shooting the chit with other old gezzers.

Cheers,
Mike

That's the way to do it. My mother still has a garden at 89 and reduces the size every few years. When we were growing up the garden was several acres, that's what a family of 11 lived on for the year. I remember planting 100 lbs of seed potatoes. I enjoy working in the garden and for what I grow it is a true joy. I like to grow my own starts (tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli, etc.) and can grow varieties that you can't get through the normal sources.

I had to take this year off due to some back surgery but I hope to have something growing again next year. We still planted some tomatoes, beans, and eggplant in planters just as an experiment to see how they work out. So far everything is looking good.