Kind of makes me sad to think that the recession is the cause for so
many people to get involved in home gardening these days But on the
bright note, it's a great thing to involve ones self in. Not only does
it help put food on the table but it's also providing many other
benefits such as: much better and fresher produce than one can buy at
any grocery chain, a great feeling of pride and self sufficiency that
has been lost in better economic times, and most of all the pure joy
and relaxation than can be had puttering around in your own garden. I
just finished reading an article on the net that said a backyard garden
is considered a home improvement these days and I personally couldn't
agree more! In my area we have a lot of Amish folks and they are very
good neighbors whom I have a lot of respect for. They knew the value of
self sufficer long before the economy went down the drain. They surely
set a great example for all of us to follow indeed. Trust in God and
make the best use of what God has provided us! Hope to see many more
folks get involved in home gardening. As for myself, I been out of
work for over two years now and may dig up my whole back yard if I have
to. But then again, what good is a back yard if it doesn't give you
back something in return Lot less grass to mow also........LOL

Rich

EVP MAN;876669]Kind of makes me sad to think that the recession is the cause for so
many people to get involved in home gardening these days But on the
bright note, it's a great thing to involve ones self in. Not only does
it help put food on the table but it's also providing many other
benefits such as: much better and fresher produce than one can buy at
any grocery chain, a great feeling of pride and self sufficiency that
has been lost in better economic times, and most of all the pure joy
and relaxation than can be had puttering around in your own garden. I
just finished reading an article on the net that said a backyard garden
is considered a home improvement these days and I personally couldn't
agree more! In my area we have a lot of Amish folks and they are very
good neighbors whom I have a lot of respect for. They knew the value of
self sufficer long before the economy went down the drain. They surely
set a great example for all of us to follow indeed. Trust in God and
make the best use of what God has provided us! Hope to see many more
folks get involved in home gardening. As for myself, I been out of
work for over two years now and may dig up my whole back yard if I have
to. But then again, what good is a back yard if it doesn't give you
back something in return Lot less grass to mow also........LOL

Rich

we have a lot of amish and mennonite around our area here and they
are really good hard working ppl.
u are so right on the gardening end of things rich. i know a
good number of ppl living in the city that have started gardening
and some apt buildings now have community gardens for the ppl to use.
nothing like being able to go out and pick a nice juicy tomato
and have a great munch.
mmmmmmm got to love those fresh garden veggies.
cyaaaaaaaaa, sockiescat.

Hi Rich,

I am sure you're right about vegetable gardening being a good response
to uncertain economic times. I'm included in that group. Do you use
heirloom seeds? Save your own? I had bad luck with my garden since
moving to the deep south in certain areas and good luck in others. It
turns out I had good luck on crops I planted the right time of year
and poor luck when I didn't. Duh! Trouble is I've been planting like
I was still up north. Now I'm depending a lot more on wild foods
since they always seem to grow well. I've been eating a lot of wild
mustard greens lately. Basically, I try to live like tomorrow will be
the day when TSHTF and it's been very good to me as a result. When I
was into big money, I blew big money but now I have little money so I
practice possum living.

-Paw, Doomer in Chief
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/brierpatch/

Hi PAW Last year was the start of it all for me as far as vegetable
gardening goes. I dug a few holes in the lawn out back and put in a
dozen and a half tomato plants. They done great. They were all hybrids
I bought from a local nursery as transplants. This year things will be
a bit different. I bought grow lights and all kinds of vegetable seeds.
About half are hybrid and half heirloom seeds and yes in the future I do
plan on saving some of the heirloom seeds. I even decided to put in an
asparagus bed which should be good for quite a few years into the
future. Right now I'm into the hard part. Digging up the sod by hand
with a spade. I want to create wide rows about 3' wide so I can work
them from either side. When finished I hope to have dug about 250 sq.
ft. of garden space. I'm only growing for my wife and I so I figure
that should be big enough with plenty left for friends and neighbors who
would enjoy a few fresh veggies. Right now we have snow on the ground
and I hope I can get out there and start digging again come mid March.
I must have the beds finished by mid April as that's when my asparagus
crowns and onion sets will be shipped to me. My soil is clay so I must
dig in lots of organic matter. Lot's of hard work still ahead for this
old man........LOL

Rich