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#16
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
I tend to agree that you don't save money by home gardening especially the first year which is quite a large expense until you get things you will need. YEP, it's a hobby which does cost money! But then again all hobbies cost money. And I learned the hard way that small is better. Last year I had 28 tomato plants and yes they all ripen about the same time. That gave me four to six weeks for the wife and I to use hundreds of tomatoes. We don't can or make sauce so it was impossible to use all them tomatoes. I ended up giving more away than what we used. And now that I think about it, that was kind of dumb. What I was doing was giving away a lot of my time and money! This year them 28 tomato plants will be cut back to 8 or 10 instead. I already warned my wife NOT to be telling a bunch of people that we would see to it that they get tomatoes this year. This season I'm looking out for my own best interests. If friends and neighbors want fresh vegetables, they will need to put a garden in and grow it the same as I do! Rich |
#17
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
Brooklyn1 Gravesend1 wrote:
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote: And I also find that things tend to even out over time. If I have a good year with one veg and a not so good year with another, it doesn't really matter. If I'd decided to plant only a few of any one vegetable or even only one or two varieties of vegetables, I would have missed out because the conditions for whatever didn't do well coul dhave had an impact on my only a few veg/varieties. So essentially you are concurring, home vegetable gardening is a hobby, you're mostly in it for the personal enjoyment of growing stuff, and you get to eat some too. Sure home grown tomatoes taste better than the typical store bought but mostly they all come in at once within a relatively short period as do all crops, one can eat only so much. Unless one goes into crops on a large enough scale to supply several families there is no way that supermarket prices can be beat... and even with a little truck farm crops can fail and often do and for a number of reasons outside ones control, and then there's the cost of supplies, tools, and powered equipment and those get used up and fail too. Who do you think supports the plant nurseries and gardening product aisles at the big box stores, home gardeners is who. Believe it or not folks tend to home veggie gardens for exactly the same reason folks tend to lawns, personal satisfaction is all... even though one can't eat that grass neither holds sway over the other, both are hobbies. No hobby is profitable monetarilly, as soon as it is it's called a business. I do gardening too, I'm motivated by enjoyment, not saving money... no way can one save money from any kind of home gardening. The term "Hobby" could be used for some. Is doing laundry a hobby also by your definition? After all why buy a washing machine and dryer when I can take my dirty clothes to the cleaners. How about one of your other favorite subjects "Cooking" is that a hobby when one can go the restaurants three times a week? I am sure there are cost advantages of eating out all the time. I often think of a hobby that only provides a pleasure incentive. Gardening does pay ones self with goods that helps one survive physically. Bird watching, Amateur Radio and Chess provides pleasure only. like Chess and Gardening i Win and Lose at times. Does working for yourself just a hobby. I built my own home, Me and two nephews did everything except the concrete work and drywall. Is building your own home a hobby? I am not being paid by anyone. So by your definition of Hobby, does working for yourself count? Gardening and food preservation in my book is being self reliant, not a hobby. -- Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan) |
#18
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
I want my tomatoes to come in at the same time. I do preserve my own foods.
Most canning equipment is a one time purchase, except for the lids which are cheap. -- Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan) |
#19
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season (Dan)
Some people may look at home gardening as a hobby while others may look at it as being self reliant but the main thing is the cost factor. Is it cheaper to grow it or buy it at market? Here again that would depend on all factors involved. First we need seed or transplants, we need to cultivate, fertilize, water and finally harvest then use, process and preserve or market our crop. Each phase has a cost involved unless we can find a way to get it for free or reduce the cost. If we have to pay for all of the above then I think it's far cheaper to buy produce than to grow it. Now this isn't counting our labor which if considered a hobby is a labor of love in which we get enjoyment. Last season I would of had to sell my tomatoes for at least $1 each just to break even or perhaps $2 each! Yes I had a good crop but the Mantis tiller alone was $375 plus gas and oil to run it. Steel support stakes at $3.50 each, cow manure at $4 a bag x six bags, roll of garden fencing $50, slow release fertilizer $20 and city water at $40 a month x 3 months. That's on top of the price of seeds, peat pellets, potting soil, grow lights and the electricity to fun them for eight weeks at 16 hours a day to raise transplants. Now mind you, I'm not complaining simply because I myself look at this as my hobby and I know in advance that all hobbies can get rather expensive. Thank God I don't play golf Rich |
#20
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
In article ,
Dan L wrote: Brooklyn1 Gravesend1 wrote: "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote: And I also find that things tend to even out over time. If I have a good year with one veg and a not so good year with another, it doesn't really matter. If I'd decided to plant only a few of any one vegetable or even only one or two varieties of vegetables, I would have missed out because the conditions for whatever didn't do well coul dhave had an impact on my only a few veg/varieties. So essentially you are concurring, home vegetable gardening is a hobby, you're mostly in it for the personal enjoyment of growing stuff, and you get to eat some too. Sure home grown tomatoes taste better than the typical store bought but mostly they all come in at once within a relatively short period as do all crops, one can eat only so much. Unless one goes into crops on a large enough scale to supply several families there is no way that supermarket prices can be beat... and even with a little truck farm crops can fail and often do and for a number of reasons outside ones control, and then there's the cost of supplies, tools, and powered equipment and those get used up and fail too. Who do you think supports the plant nurseries and gardening product aisles at the big box stores, home gardeners is who. Believe it or not folks tend to home veggie gardens for exactly the same reason folks tend to lawns, personal satisfaction is all... even though one can't eat that grass neither holds sway over the other, both are hobbies. No hobby is profitable monetarilly, as soon as it is it's called a business. I do gardening too, I'm motivated by enjoyment, not saving money... no way can one save money from any kind of home gardening. The term "Hobby" could be used for some. Is doing laundry a hobby also by your definition? After all why buy a washing machine and dryer when I can take my dirty clothes to the cleaners. How about one of your other favorite subjects "Cooking" is that a hobby when one can go the restaurants three times a week? I am sure there are cost advantages of eating out all the time. I often think of a hobby that only provides a pleasure incentive. Gardening does pay ones self with goods that helps one survive physically. Bird watching, Amateur Radio and Chess provides pleasure only. like Chess and Gardening i Win and Lose at times. Does working for yourself just a hobby. I built my own home, Me and two nephews did everything except the concrete work and drywall. Is building your own home a hobby? I am not being paid by anyone. So by your definition of Hobby, does working for yourself count? Gardening and food preservation in my book is being self reliant, not a hobby. You do realize, don't you, Dan, that everybody else in the world knows this. Getting there IS the trip, not being there. -- - Billy "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyE5wjc4XOw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug |
#21
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
On Mon, 27 Dec 2010 23:12:07 +0000 (UTC), Dan L
wrote: Brooklyn1 Gravesend1 wrote: "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote: And I also find that things tend to even out over time. If I have a good year with one veg and a not so good year with another, it doesn't really matter. If I'd decided to plant only a few of any one vegetable or even only one or two varieties of vegetables, I would have missed out because the conditions for whatever didn't do well coul dhave had an impact on my only a few veg/varieties. So essentially you are concurring, home vegetable gardening is a hobby, you're mostly in it for the personal enjoyment of growing stuff, and you get to eat some too. Sure home grown tomatoes taste better than the typical store bought but mostly they all come in at once within a relatively short period as do all crops, one can eat only so much. Unless one goes into crops on a large enough scale to supply several families there is no way that supermarket prices can be beat... and even with a little truck farm crops can fail and often do and for a number of reasons outside ones control, and then there's the cost of supplies, tools, and powered equipment and those get used up and fail too. Who do you think supports the plant nurseries and gardening product aisles at the big box stores, home gardeners is who. Believe it or not folks tend to home veggie gardens for exactly the same reason folks tend to lawns, personal satisfaction is all... even though one can't eat that grass neither holds sway over the other, both are hobbies. No hobby is profitable monetarilly, as soon as it is it's called a business. I do gardening too, I'm motivated by enjoyment, not saving money... no way can one save money from any kind of home gardening. The term "Hobby" could be used for some. Is doing laundry a hobby also by your definition? After all why buy a washing machine and dryer when I can take my dirty clothes to the cleaners. How about one of your other favorite subjects "Cooking" is that a hobby when one can go the restaurants three times a week? I am sure there are cost advantages of eating out all the time. I often think of a hobby that only provides a pleasure incentive. Gardening does pay ones self with goods that helps one survive physically. Bird watching, Amateur Radio and Chess provides pleasure only. like Chess and Gardening i Win and Lose at times. Does working for yourself just a hobby. I built my own home, Me and two nephews did everything except the concrete work and drywall. Is building your own home a hobby? I am not being paid by anyone. So by your definition of Hobby, does working for yourself count? Gardening and food preservation in my book is being self reliant, not a hobby. You don't make any sense, you are simply attempting to defend the indefensible... home veggie gardening is a hobby like all others, primarilly gives pleasure but saves not a mot on ones grocery bill. I've had a veggie garden every year for more than 60 years and never saved a penny on food... canning and freezing costs more than buying at the stupidmarket. NO hobby saves money and a home veggie garden is definitely a hobby, one of the more costly hobbies when time, effort, and losses to nature are factored in. I've been involved in several hobbies, I've raised tropical fish for many years, collected stamps, and coins and I've collected fountain pens most of my life and still, at least I can occasionally sell fountain pens at a profit, I've never sold a tomato at a profit. I garden strictly for enjoyment... no one saves money with home vegetable gardening, it's 100% an expense... actually more than 100%, a lot more... anyone who believes they are saving money is fantacising. I recently spent over $300 on mole/vole protection products, I'd have to sell a ton of tomatoes to maybe break even. Just from reading here of people bitching about their watering bills alone proves that gardening is not monetarilly profitable, never mind all the other myriad cost aspects folks here constantly whine about paying for. |
#22
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season (Dan)
A good book on seed saving.
http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Growing-T...tt_at_ep_dpt_1 I do purchase seeds every year also. I do not purchase any vegetable plants! One packet of tomato seeds cost around two dollars. I can at least get thirty plants for that two dollars. One tomato plant can cost two dollars at a nursery. I do start some seeds indoors. Ninety nine percent of my seeds go directly into the ground. I spend nothing for compost or manure. I have chickens and a cow for manure. Compost is free from the local recycling center. I also have my own compost piles. Most of my vegetable garden uses raised beds, so no tilling is necessary. Rain and rain barrels cost little. I do have a well for backup water but rarely use it for gardening. I do purchase some fertilizers for the plants. However if one uses compost, one does not need as much fertilizer. In the grocery market one small pint of cherry tomatoes cost $2. Leaf lettuce runs around two dollars a pound. Much much cheaper to grow your own. Two vegetables that are cheaper in stores are carrots and potatoes. I am hard pressed to think of other vegetables that can be purchased cheaper than I can grow. A dozen ears of corn cost about $2., that is just six corn plants, I can get a thousand corn seeds for ten dollars. I do buy avocados because I cannot grow them in my area. One small 12 oz can of diced tomatoes cost a dollar in the markets. Canning your own food is allot cheaper. I have a freezer full of corn and green beans. What I do not preserve makes great compost. The number one cost in home gardening is your personal labor cost which I did not include. That personal labor cost is the factor that determines if gardening is profitable. Eight hours of fishing might bring $20 worth of fish, for some personal cost is important, some it is not. -- Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan) |
#23
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
Brooklyn1 Gravesend1 wrote:
On Mon, 27 Dec 2010 23:12:07 +0000 (UTC), Dan L wrote: Brooklyn1 Gravesend1 wrote: "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote: And I also find that things tend to even out over time. If I have a good year with one veg and a not so good year with another, it doesn't really matter. If I'd decided to plant only a few of any one vegetable or even only one or two varieties of vegetables, I would have missed out because the conditions for whatever didn't do well coul dhave had an impact on my only a few veg/varieties. So essentially you are concurring, home vegetable gardening is a hobby, you're mostly in it for the personal enjoyment of growing stuff, and you get to eat some too. Sure home grown tomatoes taste better than the typical store bought but mostly they all come in at once within a relatively short period as do all crops, one can eat only so much. Unless one goes into crops on a large enough scale to supply several families there is no way that supermarket prices can be beat... and even with a little truck farm crops can fail and often do and for a number of reasons outside ones control, and then there's the cost of supplies, tools, and powered equipment and those get used up and fail too. Who do you think supports the plant nurseries and gardening product aisles at the big box stores, home gardeners is who. Believe it or not folks tend to home veggie gardens for exactly the same reason folks tend to lawns, personal satisfaction is all... even though one can't eat that grass neither holds sway over the other, both are hobbies. No hobby is profitable monetarilly, as soon as it is it's called a business. I do gardening too, I'm motivated by enjoyment, not saving money... no way can one save money from any kind of home gardening. The term "Hobby" could be used for some. Is doing laundry a hobby also by your definition? After all why buy a washing machine and dryer when I can take my dirty clothes to the cleaners. How about one of your other favorite subjects "Cooking" is that a hobby when one can go the restaurants three times a week? I am sure there are cost advantages of eating out all the time. I often think of a hobby that only provides a pleasure incentive. Gardening does pay ones self with goods that helps one survive physically. Bird watching, Amateur Radio and Chess provides pleasure only. like Chess and Gardening i Win and Lose at times. Does working for yourself just a hobby. I built my own home, Me and two nephews did everything except the concrete work and drywall. Is building your own home a hobby? I am not being paid by anyone. So by your definition of Hobby, does working for yourself count? Gardening and food preservation in my book is being self reliant, not a hobby. You don't make any sense, you are simply attempting to defend the indefensible... home veggie gardening is a hobby like all others, primarilly gives pleasure but saves not a mot on ones grocery bill. I've had a veggie garden every year for more than 60 years and never saved a penny on food... canning and freezing costs more than buying at the stupidmarket. NO hobby saves money and a home veggie garden is definitely a hobby, one of the more costly hobbies when time, effort, and losses to nature are factored in. I've been involved in several hobbies, I've raised tropical fish for many years, collected stamps, and coins and I've collected fountain pens most of my life and still, at least I can occasionally sell fountain pens at a profit, I've never sold a tomato at a profit. I garden strictly for enjoyment... no one saves money with home vegetable gardening, it's 100% an expense... actually more than 100%, a lot more... anyone who believes they are saving money is fantacising. I recently spent over $300 on mole/vole protection products, I'd have to sell a ton of tomatoes to maybe break even. Just from reading here of people bitching about their watering bills alone proves that gardening is not monetarilly profitable, never mind all the other myriad cost aspects folks here constantly whine about paying for. Again you missed my first statement "The term "Hobby" could be used for some". For you it is a hobby, for me it is a way of life. Your thinking is narrow, this or that, right or wrong, them or us, if you do not make cold hard cash it is a hobby. Their is no middle ground in your world. I believe "this or that", "right or wrong" are two thin lines with a vast grey area. You want a hard line on your definitions. You are in the camp of "letter of the law" and I am in the camp of "spirit of the law". Go ahead say I am wrong -- Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan) |
#24
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
Billy wrote:
In article , Dan L wrote: Brooklyn1 Gravesend1 wrote: "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote: And I also find that things tend to even out over time. If I have a good year with one veg and a not so good year with another, it doesn't really matter. If I'd decided to plant only a few of any one vegetable or even only one or two varieties of vegetables, I would have missed out because the conditions for whatever didn't do well coul dhave had an impact on my only a few veg/varieties. So essentially you are concurring, home vegetable gardening is a hobby, you're mostly in it for the personal enjoyment of growing stuff, and you get to eat some too. Sure home grown tomatoes taste better than the typical store bought but mostly they all come in at once within a relatively short period as do all crops, one can eat only so much. Unless one goes into crops on a large enough scale to supply several families there is no way that supermarket prices can be beat... and even with a little truck farm crops can fail and often do and for a number of reasons outside ones control, and then there's the cost of supplies, tools, and powered equipment and those get used up and fail too. Who do you think supports the plant nurseries and gardening product aisles at the big box stores, home gardeners is who. Believe it or not folks tend to home veggie gardens for exactly the same reason folks tend to lawns, personal satisfaction is all... even though one can't eat that grass neither holds sway over the other, both are hobbies. No hobby is profitable monetarilly, as soon as it is it's called a business. I do gardening too, I'm motivated by enjoyment, not saving money... no way can one save money from any kind of home gardening. The term "Hobby" could be used for some. Is doing laundry a hobby also by your definition? After all why buy a washing machine and dryer when I can take my dirty clothes to the cleaners. How about one of your other favorite subjects "Cooking" is that a hobby when one can go the restaurants three times a week? I am sure there are cost advantages of eating out all the time. I often think of a hobby that only provides a pleasure incentive. Gardening does pay ones self with goods that helps one survive physically. Bird watching, Amateur Radio and Chess provides pleasure only. like Chess and Gardening i Win and Lose at times. Does working for yourself just a hobby. I built my own home, Me and two nephews did everything except the concrete work and drywall. Is building your own home a hobby? I am not being paid by anyone. So by your definition of Hobby, does working for yourself count? Gardening and food preservation in my book is being self reliant, not a hobby. You do realize, don't you, Dan, that everybody else in the world knows this. Getting there IS the trip, not being there. Apparently not everyone For me it is the path that is interesting. But for some, the completive types, it is getting there that make them content and happy. The thing is, if they do not get there they will be the old miserable ones. -- Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan) |
#25
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
In article ,
Dan L wrote: Billy wrote: In article , Dan L wrote: Brooklyn1 Gravesend1 wrote: "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote: And I also find that things tend to even out over time. If I have a good year with one veg and a not so good year with another, it doesn't really matter. If I'd decided to plant only a few of any one vegetable or even only one or two varieties of vegetables, I would have missed out because the conditions for whatever didn't do well coul dhave had an impact on my only a few veg/varieties. So essentially you are concurring, home vegetable gardening is a hobby, you're mostly in it for the personal enjoyment of growing stuff, and you get to eat some too. Sure home grown tomatoes taste better than the typical store bought but mostly they all come in at once within a relatively short period as do all crops, one can eat only so much. Unless one goes into crops on a large enough scale to supply several families there is no way that supermarket prices can be beat... and even with a little truck farm crops can fail and often do and for a number of reasons outside ones control, and then there's the cost of supplies, tools, and powered equipment and those get used up and fail too. Who do you think supports the plant nurseries and gardening product aisles at the big box stores, home gardeners is who. Believe it or not folks tend to home veggie gardens for exactly the same reason folks tend to lawns, personal satisfaction is all... even though one can't eat that grass neither holds sway over the other, both are hobbies. No hobby is profitable monetarilly, as soon as it is it's called a business. I do gardening too, I'm motivated by enjoyment, not saving money... no way can one save money from any kind of home gardening. The term "Hobby" could be used for some. Is doing laundry a hobby also by your definition? After all why buy a washing machine and dryer when I can take my dirty clothes to the cleaners. How about one of your other favorite subjects "Cooking" is that a hobby when one can go the restaurants three times a week? I am sure there are cost advantages of eating out all the time. I often think of a hobby that only provides a pleasure incentive. Gardening does pay ones self with goods that helps one survive physically. Bird watching, Amateur Radio and Chess provides pleasure only. like Chess and Gardening i Win and Lose at times. Does working for yourself just a hobby. I built my own home, Me and two nephews did everything except the concrete work and drywall. Is building your own home a hobby? I am not being paid by anyone. So by your definition of Hobby, does working for yourself count? Gardening and food preservation in my book is being self reliant, not a hobby. You do realize, don't you, Dan, that everybody else in the world knows this. Getting there IS the trip, not being there. Apparently not everyone For me it is the path that is interesting. But for some, the completive types, it is getting there that make them content and happy. The thing is, if they do not get there they will be the old miserable ones. Seems kinda like my reflection on French movies: some are where people are miserable because they didn't follow their dream, and some are miserable because they did. Yeah, I know, kinda restrictive isn't it? The Fanny Series comes to mind, as does Jean de Florette. Hmmm, both written by Marcel Pagnol. Probably not a good comparison. Good movies, though. -- - Billy "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyE5wjc4XOw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug |
#26
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
Brooklyn1 wrote:
On Mon, 27 Dec 2010 23:12:07 +0000 (UTC), Dan L wrote: Brooklyn1 Gravesend1 wrote: "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote: And I also find that things tend to even out over time. If I have a good year with one veg and a not so good year with another, it doesn't really matter. If I'd decided to plant only a few of any one vegetable or even only one or two varieties of vegetables, I would have missed out because the conditions for whatever didn't do well coul dhave had an impact on my only a few veg/varieties. So essentially you are concurring, home vegetable gardening is a hobby, you're mostly in it for the personal enjoyment of growing stuff, and you get to eat some too. Sure home grown tomatoes taste better than the typical store bought but mostly they all come in at once within a relatively short period as do all crops, one can eat only so much. Unless one goes into crops on a large enough scale to supply several families there is no way that supermarket prices can be beat... and even with a little truck farm crops can fail and often do and for a number of reasons outside ones control, and then there's the cost of supplies, tools, and powered equipment and those get used up and fail too. Who do you think supports the plant nurseries and gardening product aisles at the big box stores, home gardeners is who. Believe it or not folks tend to home veggie gardens for exactly the same reason folks tend to lawns, personal satisfaction is all... even though one can't eat that grass neither holds sway over the other, both are hobbies. No hobby is profitable monetarilly, as soon as it is it's called a business. I do gardening too, I'm motivated by enjoyment, not saving money... no way can one save money from any kind of home gardening. The term "Hobby" could be used for some. Is doing laundry a hobby also by your definition? After all why buy a washing machine and dryer when I can take my dirty clothes to the cleaners. How about one of your other favorite subjects "Cooking" is that a hobby when one can go the restaurants three times a week? I am sure there are cost advantages of eating out all the time. I often think of a hobby that only provides a pleasure incentive. Gardening does pay ones self with goods that helps one survive physically. Bird watching, Amateur Radio and Chess provides pleasure only. like Chess and Gardening i Win and Lose at times. Does working for yourself just a hobby. I built my own home, Me and two nephews did everything except the concrete work and drywall. Is building your own home a hobby? I am not being paid by anyone. So by your definition of Hobby, does working for yourself count? Gardening and food preservation in my book is being self reliant, not a hobby. You don't make any sense, you are simply attempting to defend the indefensible... home veggie gardening is a hobby like all others, primarilly gives pleasure but saves not a mot on ones grocery bill. I've had a veggie garden every year for more than 60 years and never saved a penny on food... canning and freezing costs more than buying at the stupidmarket. Your experience does not make it universally so. Unless you cost my time I am in front by many hundreds of dollars a year every year. I bottle and freeze quite a lot and once again it costs me almost nothing (people give me boxes of preserving jars, lids and seals) and my time. Why is this an article of faith with you? At some time in your history you totalled up what gardening was costing you and you had an Ah Hah moment and decided that you couldn't justify it financially. That's fine but it doesn't apply to everybody. NO hobby saves money and a home veggie garden is definitely a hobby, one of the more costly hobbies when time, effort, and losses to nature are factored in. Well yes if you cost your time. But consider the alternatives such as going to the gym or pushing myself through some excercise routine. These take time, cost money, usually require equipment and to me are less pleasant. What do you want out of a hobby beyond engaging the mind and body and (if you allow ) social contacts? I've been involved in several hobbies, I've raised tropical fish for many years, collected stamps, and coins and I've collected fountain pens most of my life and still, at least I can occasionally sell fountain pens at a profit, I've never sold a tomato at a profit. I garden strictly for enjoyment... no one saves money with home vegetable gardening, it's 100% an expense... actually more than 100%, a lot more... anyone who believes they are saving money is fantacising. Well colour me hallucinating! Last summer I sold about $50 worth of tomatoes at the local farmer's market and all it cost me was effort. I recently spent over $300 on mole/vole protection products, I'd have to sell a ton of tomatoes to maybe break even. Just from reading here of people bitching about their watering bills alone proves that gardening is not monetarilly profitable, never mind all the other myriad cost aspects folks here constantly whine about paying for. I don't have any watering bills. I spend a little on petrol to pump water. I buy very little in the way of inputs, a few chemicals that I can't do without and sometimes some seed, my seed is through a grower's club and very cheap, my equipment is mainly years old and long paid for. I use recycled wire as fences and recycled gates as trellises that were gifts. I collect horse manure off the pasture and other people give me chicken litter. And I don't have voles! You keep going on about this. It seems to be a religious crusade that nobody could come out in front from growing things. OK you can't come out in front, I get that. Can't you see that other people in this world have other experiences and consequently see things differently? David |
#27
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
"Brooklyn1" Gravesend1 wrote in message
... "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote: And I also find that things tend to even out over time. If I have a good year with one veg and a not so good year with another, it doesn't really matter. If I'd decided to plant only a few of any one vegetable or even only one or two varieties of vegetables, I would have missed out because the conditions for whatever didn't do well coul dhave had an impact on my only a few veg/varieties. So essentially you are concurring, home vegetable gardening is a hobby, you're mostly in it for the personal enjoyment of growing stuff, and you get to eat some too. I'm not a market gardener so yes, it could be called 'a hobby'. But then since I'm not motivated by money or saving or selling then to me there's no point in labelling it. It's something I'm very serious aobut and have been for about 35 years. I didnt' even spend that much time as a wage slave and that was supposed to be a 'profession'. Sure home grown tomatoes taste better than the typical store bought but mostly they all come in at once within a relatively short period as do all crops, one can eat only so much. No, they don't all 'come in' at once. That is an importatn point of my growing stuff. I use succession planting and I also grow older varieties which tend to crop over a long period rather than do their stuff in a week and then die. Unless one goes into crops on a large enough scale to supply several families there is no way that supermarket prices can be beat... and even with a little truck farm crops can fail and often do and for a number of reasons outside ones control, and then there's the cost of supplies, tools, and powered equipment and those get used up and fail too. I don't use 'powered equipment'. I use human power. I have never broken a fork or a spade. I think I've broken one of maybe 2 handles in 40 years of gardening and they were easily replaced. |
#28
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
"Dan L" wrote in message
For me it is the path that is interesting. Yup :-)) It's about the journey and not the destination. |
#29
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
"David Hare-Scott" wrote
Brooklyn1 wrote: You don't make any sense, you are simply attempting to defend the indefensible... home veggie gardening is a hobby like all others, primarilly gives pleasure but saves not a mot on ones grocery bill. I've had a veggie garden every year for more than 60 years and never saved a penny on food... canning and freezing costs more than buying at the stupidmarket. Your experience does not make it universally so. Unless you cost my time I am in front by many hundreds of dollars a year every year. I bottle and freeze quite a lot and once again it costs me almost nothing (people give me boxes of preserving jars, lids and seals) and my time. Why is this an article of faith with you? At some time in your history you totalled up what gardening was costing you and you had an Ah Hah moment and decided that you couldn't justify it financially. That's fine but it doesn't apply to everybody. Thats's his take. It doesn't match mine at all. Sure I do it for fun and so I can know what is really in my foods, but the savings can be really obvious with a small 'garden'. Take one part only of mine. 12$ for a container bought a decade or more ago. I got 2 bunches of chives (bulb on) and 2 of green onions (bulb on). Used the tops and planted the bulbs with a bit of the green. First year I had to crop carefully as they recovered. Since then, I get enough to even dehydrate enough for the winter use. Since I moved back stateside in Oct 2007 (ITCS USN Ret), I had to restart a container in spring 2008. That needed soil bought as I don't have enough topsoil to just strip some from the yard (about 15$ worth). In 2009 and 2010, I didn't have to buy ANY chives or green onion tops. I only bought a few in 2008 (replanting 1/2 the bulbs). Once a year I add about 2$ worth of fresh soil and a little fertilizer (mixed in a water jug). I easily this past year cropped 30$ worth store-price chives and green onions with a 2$ or so outlay. Even in 2008, I broke even although if I had had to also get the container, first year would have been a loss. I don't grow enough to be more than for 'fun' with most things but that's just a choice in how much time I want to spend at it. You may 'scoff' at container gardening, but with 26 years of apartment living, it's often the only option so I got pretty good at it. |
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Won't Use Soaker Hoses Again This Season
"FarmI" wrote
Brooklyn1 wrote Sure home grown tomatoes taste better than the typical store bought but mostly they all come in at once within a relatively short period as do all crops, one can eat only so much. No, they don't all 'come in' at once. That is an importatn point of my growing stuff. I use succession planting and I also grow older varieties which tend to crop over a long period rather than do their stuff in a week and then die. Same here. With mostly containers in use, I learned to do the tomatoes in several versions. Some early crop, some crop best mid-summer, others are more fall prone (but crop some in summer). 6 -8 plants work for us for tomatoes. I normally do 6 bell peppers as well. |
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