Your Questions About Gardening

GardenersCardiff answers:

Organic gardening is just gardening with out the use of chemicals. Yes, there are alot of products you can buy from nurseries and even Walmart that say they are organic but what they really are is just a waste of money. Do a search on the internet for tips on organic gardening in your area. There is an Organic Gardening Magazine you can subscribe to. The forums on GardenWeb are very helpful also. Jerry Baker is an author of a lot of helpful books for using household ingredients to battle the bugs and other diseases. Amazon.com has his books new and used. He uses dishsoap and alot of of tobacco juice LOL. I have used some of his recipes and they do work.

GardenersCardiff answers:

A good place for recycling magazines is a nursing home or possibly a clinic. Of course you would ask if they could use them. A kinder-garden or day care may want the cards.

GardenersCardiff answers:

From a purely economic perspective, depending on the type of things you grow and their cost in your area, one probably saves some money. Here in the midwest, I grow tomatoes and peppers, which can be pretty expensive, but not corn as it takes a lot of room and is very cheap in the late summer. Our garden is relatively small, I don’t own a rototiller, and only apply fertilizer once or twice a season, so my costs are low compared to my neighbor who has an elaborate watering system, fencing to keep rabbits out, a complicated trellis for beans, and fancy tomato cages.

From a time and labor perspective, it depends on the person, the size of the garden, the amount of detail you want to put into it, the amount of preparation in the spring, and the fastidiousness you exhibit during the growing season. My neighbor takes a more detailed, fanatic approach than I do. I simply hand till the soil, plant, and fertilize in late May. Then it’s a matter of watering and keeping the weeds down during the summer. So for me, it really isn’t much work. For others, it’s a lot of effort, for what seems, on the surface, as not much payoff.

But there’s obviously a lot more to it than that. I take a commuter train to work in Chicago every day, so when I get home, I find it very relaxing to putter around in the garden, and really enjoy being outside without the stress and noise of the city. I don’t get all philosophical and feel I’m closer to the earth, or communing with Mother Nature, I just like the peaceful setting, watching things grow, and the challenge of keeping the pests and weeds at bay.

Things taste a lot better when you’ve grown them yourself, especially compared to tomatoes that are grown on corporate farms to have a longer shelf life and be resistant to bruising, not for flavor. You also know the things you’ve grown don’t have any harmful chemicals or toxic substances in or on them. Friends and family are highly appreciative when you can give them fresh produce that you raised yourself as it is a very personal gift, and better tasting than that from the grocer. When I take tomatoes and peppers in for my coworkers, the folks that live in apartments really seem to enjoy them. It beats buying a box of donuts (mmm, donuts).

So it kind of depends on the person. I don’t spend any money on gardening books, magazines, and home videos. I don’t own any fancy equipment or elaborate systems, but a lot of people do, because they like the challenge of getting the most out of their garden and making it as efficient as possible. It doesn’t have to be a labor intensive activity unless you want it to. You’re probably right, in that some folks expend so much energy in their gardens, that it may seem too much for not enough payoff, but I bet they would have a different opinion. In February, when I can take some green pepper out of the freezer to cook with, I’ll know that it’s $3 a pound at the supermarket and mine will even taste better. It’s like any activity, there’s those are way into it and seem to take it to the extreme, and that may be the kind of people you’re referring to. But I think most folks take a more pragmatic approach and do the work that’s necessary while deriving a great deal of joy from the effort and the results.