My garden is basically a huge PIB !!!

[JDgreen227]

It is comical to read everyone's post on their garden:laughing: " Cost a fortune" and the like, but we still do it.:thumbsup:

I usually have family members ask in Feb, "are you going to have another garden this year?" "we love getting veggies from you" Yeah right!! after about 3 times, they run when they see you coming with a sac!! Which is weird, they complain about store prices and get burned out getting veggies for free!

Oh, here is what I found in the Boss's flower garden yesterday, she said she has tried everything else in that spot sooooo

Want me to send you some of the quackgrass seeds from across the road from me? I KNOW they will grow in ANYTHING you plant them in.

Yes, it's funny to follow the stories, thanks for all who have contributed.

 

[Chuck52]

And now.......Japanese beetles. I first saw them on my pole beans. That was particularly irritating because I already tilled under two sets of bush beans and two more are looking pretty pitiful, while the pole beans are already above the 8-9 foot top rail of my trellis. I was admiring the beautiful growth when I noticed it was more colorful than it should be. Sparkly clumps of Japanese beetles. So, even though the beans have flowers I drenched them with Sevin. Then I walked down to the Concord grapes and sure enough they were there, too, and also on the raspberries. Bottom line was I ended up spraying all my apple, cherry, English walnut, heartnut, and hazelnut trees because I figure after I keep the #$%^& beetles off the beans, squash and cucumbers, they'll go after my fruits and nuts.

I squished a few, just for the fun of it, but chemical warfare was the only way I was going to save some of my vegetables and trees. This year, for sure (this time) I'm putting down the milky spore.

This stuff is my hobby. Are hobbies supposed to kill you?

Chuck

 

[Car Doc]

We definitely dont talk about the cost of gardening with a tractor especially when the chief finance manager is near by no no no that takes the secret handshake.

 

[Bartcephus]

I'm not a seasoned gardner by any means. But from what I have been exposed, the pain of rasing homegrown veggies must have the similar effect as the pain of childbirth to a lot of women. Seems like every spring, I long for the tilling of the soil and the smell of diesel exhaust, the trips to the co-op or seed and feed store, and the daily waiting and watching for germination. We tend to forget about the pain... the labor of the weeding the sore backs, arms and legs. The hurt to our wallet and bank balances for the purchase of fuel, fertilizer, seeds, plants, tools, weed cloth, tomato cages, fencing, fence panels for beans to climb, rakes, hoes, tillers, oil, filters, fuel additive for ethanol gasoline, carb-kits. We fail to remember he skinned knuckles, the blisters, calouses, muddy shoes, irritated knees, sunburns, bug bites, itchiness from harvesting prickly plants and the time we spend in the gardens or preparing to get to the gardens. But just like the woman who bears child number two, we face with dedication the new years ritual of the same ol' same ol' with hightend expectations that this year is going to be great. Ahhhh kinda wanna makes me get out there all over again..... nothing is prettier in a garden than a freshly prepared seed-bed with a row of plants. nothing satisfies the thirst of acomplishment like picking the fruits and vegies from the garden and hauling them into the kitchen.... :licking:


Best Regards
Bart

 

[YesDeere]

Yup. It's called a hobby. Good or bad. Hi's and lows. Thank god for them!!!

I know plenty of people with none at all. They have no new pages and are about as much fun as slamming your sack in a car door!!

So happy gardening my good interesting people

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

Yup. It's called a hobby. Good or bad. Hi's and lows. Thank god for them!!!

Agreed -- I know people who regularly spend thousands of dollars at a time on "hobbies" like race cars... which very often end up loosing the race or blown up / wrecked / scrap metal.....as long as it doesn't cause ya trouble putting food on the table / keeping a roof over your head, then have at it!!:thumbsup:

 

[Redbug]

I feel your pain. I used to have a small garden. But, working full time and all the other things going on in life, there just is not any time left in the day. I was younger then, too. You can burn the candle at both ends when young. And when you get a little older, you forget where you laid that hoe down...opps there it is! Maybe another attachment for the tractor...a cultivator...to help with the weeds...hmmm, good excuse.

However...I plan to retire in around 3 years. That's when I will bust loose and have a nice garden! Mmmm...Sweet Corn! Tomatoes! Okra! I also miss having a few bee hives. That's on the list, too.

Then, I plan to enjoy the Japanese beetles, rabbits, squirrels, getting dirty, and sunburnt. Do you know just how good raw okra or sweet corn is while eating it standing in your garden surveying your mighty empire really is...while mashing Japanese beetles?

It's us workin' folk that should only be allowed to complain...we don't even get to garden...

 

[jonyyuma]

Okay, as a by-product of gardening, where can I ,use or sell all the Morning glories that come free with my tilling/??

 

[clemsonfor]

Try hay in your garden it stops 99% of the weed and you can till it in after season for organic matter.

 

[Bartcephus]

Try hay in your garden it stops 99% of the weed and you can till it in after season for organic matter.

Do you find that the hay brings in weed seed or diseases? I've often worried about that being the case. Seems like it would be cheaper than landscape/weed cloth.