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momamamo

Veggie gardeners, what are your favorite garden chores?

momamamo
15 years ago

How about it, everyone? Which garden chores do you look forward to? I love to sow seeds and wait anxiously for them to sprout.

I also love sitting on the ground and pulling weeds. This is laughable, I'm sure, for those of you with big gardens, but you work with what you have, right?

One more thing. I love checking for bugs and stuff every day because it requires an upclose look at some beautiful, beautiful plants.

Let me know what you like to do. Thank you! Maureen

Comments (40)

  • ally99
    15 years ago

    Hunting for and killing squash bugs and their eggs....NOT! :) That's definitely NOT my favorite chore; it's just the most time-consuming one!
    Let's see, favorite chores...picking and eating the harvest!!! :) Watering on cool mornings. I also love the initial "planting" stage when I have to prep and till the dirt and then plant the seeds. Going out each morning to watch them sprout is very rewarding.
    Neat thread! I'll be interested to hear others!
    Allyson

  • booberry85
    15 years ago

    Picking the fruits of my labor! I also love the initial planting once the soil is already prepared for planting. I love taking my mug of coffee up to the garden early in the morning and check out what's new.

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  • granite
    15 years ago

    I love the initial turning of the beds, planting, and mulching the rows; it pleases my sense of order. I enjoy weeding when the ground has the right level of moisture; but ugh it is impossible when it is too dry (like now). I love to harvest. I like taking pictures of my garden and sitting still in the garden to watch the birds and butterflies.

    My least favorite chores are watering and killing bugs.

  • ruthieg__tx
    15 years ago

    Haha Harvesting is my favorite too.....I picked tomatoes this morning...I am going to make Annies salsa not later than Monday...depending on how my week goes. I make it and use it in varying degrees of hotness and I use it as salsa, and also as just a cooking sauce for things like black beans or taco's, Mexican rice etc etc so I never have enough of it...

  • jimster
    15 years ago

    Monitoring -- which is just a fancy name for walking around looking at stuff and gloating over the progress I see. Wow, things are growing well this year!

    It does serve a useful purpose too, of course. Careful inspection gives me a heads up on lurking insect trouble or other things I need to take action on.

    Jim

  • holly-2006
    15 years ago

    I love weeding first thing in the morning after a heavy overnight rain. This morning I pulled 2 whole weeds. I suppose that's the only benefit of having a small garden.

    After that, out comes the tape measure. This newbie small-scale gardener has to keep herself busy somehow! LOL

  • ally99
    15 years ago

    A heavy overnight rain? What's that? LOL! Here in my part of Ga, it has been weeks upon weeks since we have had a shower heavy enough to reach down to the roots of my plants. My poor grass is brittle and brown. Oh well. :( At least my veggies are surviving. I'm watering them every couple of days. :) Ally

  • suburbangreen
    15 years ago

    I've been harvesting a lot of cucumbers the last week. I like finding those hidden cucumbers and saying, "AH, how did I miss you the other day?"

    I also like feeding the soil and mulching with my homemade compost. I get a real sense of the cycle of life when I add it to my beds.

    Although I don't like all the labor involved, I get a real sense of accomplish and anticipation when I finish constructing and filling a new raised bed.

    Pete

  • hamiltongardener
    15 years ago

    Pruning the lower branches of tomatoes.

    Don't ask me exactly why, I just like it.

  • di_h
    15 years ago

    I only started my veggie garden last month but I love going out in the morning and checking my plants. I inspect my tomatoes (my biggest plants) for bugs, and this morning saw that I have teeny weeny little tomatoes forming :)
    I also like the planning part. Not so much the digging etc. Though once that's done its done, lol.

  • bigfoot839
    15 years ago

    i personally love the planting and then the harvesing love to eat what i grew just taste better and what a satisfaction when some one else tries it and says hey where did you buy these at.

  • zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
    15 years ago

    "...Monitoring -- which is just a fancy name for walking around looking at stuff..." (Jimster)

    That's probably my favorite too. Since I grow many new varieties each year, I keep detailed observations to evaluate them. It's my opportunity to look at each variety closely, and there are always surprises... mostly pleasant ones. I just love watching things grow.

    Next to that would be harvesting the fruits of my labors. Putting up that harvest, however, can be stressful... the phrase "be careful what you wish for" comes to mind. When the sweet corn is ready, for example, it's going to be a long night.

    And as a seed saver, I really enjoy preparing seed, especially shelling out beans. While the harvest is still in full swing, any dry seed pods are placed in labeled paper bags, and put aside in an empty room to dry further. Once the frost has ended the gardening season, I can begin shelling out the seeds at my leisure. The different colors & patterns are always interesting, and it's a good rainy-day project in front of the TV.

  • jodifromoregon
    15 years ago

    Great thread idea, Maureen! :-)

    "I love taking my mug of coffee up to the garden early in the morning and check out what's new."

    Me too, booberry. It's my favorite way to start each day.

    "...and what a satisfaction when some one else tries it and says hey where did you buy these at."

    Nice, bigfoot! I have that to look forward to (hopefully)!

    So far I've only had a few strawberries to harvest, but that was a lot of fun; especially once I bit into that first one and realized that it did indeed taste the way a strawberry is supposed to taste. ;-)

    And, I'm already starting to plan next year's garden... what I want to plant, where to plant it (observing crop rotation "rules"), etc. I enjoy the planning stage as well.

    Gardening is truly a delight.

  • organic_mamag
    15 years ago

    I'm with all of you. I love starting my day early in the morning walking through the garden to see what is new each day. I'm amazed at how much can change in just 24 hours.

    I also enjoy sitting on the ground and weeding early in the morning. It's kind of meditative in a way. The rest of the world is far from my thoughts and I'm surrounded by my plants.

  • lilacs_of_may
    15 years ago

    This is hardly a chore, but I love perusing seed catalogs and thinking about what I want to plant next. Until I started gardening, I had no idea how many varieties of edible plants there were.

    Up to a point, I like weeding. It gives me some satisfaction to yank those weeds out of there and toss them in the compost bin.

    "Monitoring" is also a favorite. I like to go out and make the rounds of my plants. Today I found a tiny Roma tomato forming. Unfortunately, it has its bad side, too. My one canteloupe plant has been pretty much eaten up by bugs. :-( (I blame the hoppers.)

    And of course I like harvest. I always loved digging potatoes out of the ground. It was like digging for buried treasure.

  • nc_crn
    15 years ago

    I love waking up to a 80 degree morning with 50-70%+ humidity going out to greet the mosquitoes in July and August.

    Nothing quite like enjoying that while choking on the exhaust and gas fumes of the numerous neighbors who dump quick-grow fertilizer on their useless lawn all summer and end up cutting it twice a week. Smells like progress!

    And the joys of finding parts of your harvest on the ground after your critter friends have come to sample your harvest. That's fun stuff, too.

    Woo...gardening.

  • desertfarmerjohn
    15 years ago

    Favorite "chore" is walking out and inspecting everything each morning. Perfect way to start each new day!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Container Gardening in the Desert

  • guitar7100
    15 years ago

    Hi everyone I agree I love getting up and walking around my garden each and every morninig It is sooo amazing to watch things get bigger by the day I also like sitting in the garden pulling weeds it's my time with just me and my garden gardening is my biggest hobbie right now and i can't wait to start eating all the fruits of my labor

    awsome thread it's nice to hear other peoples experience's

    Karl

  • sueloring
    15 years ago

    My husband thinks I am totally batty because I love hoeing the garden. It is theraputic and even a good workout but I don't care about that. It is gratifying to take out weed after weed and also mound dirt up around the spindlier stems.

    Least favorite....watering/fertilizing. We spent this afternoon fertilizing my dad's 3 acre pumpkin patch with some nasty smelling organic fish fertilizer. YUCK! His plants are still on small to midsize because he planted them late due to cold weather so we hand watered all 1800 plants. Thought we would give them a boost...by end of afternoon my husband, mom , dad and I all reeked of fish.
    Oh well.... it made my dad happy so that's all that matters.

  • jbann23
    15 years ago

    Since I'm growing tomatoes I really love to see them 12" above the strings I use to Florida weave. That means I can weave another thread and the plants are really growing well. Learned some new knots and the system really holds the plants well. I guess it's because I'm out there with the plants, nurturing them and seeing the amazing growth. It's such a pleasure to see your efforts come to fruition. Happy gardening to all of you.

  • aulani
    15 years ago

    Good idea, Maureen.

    First, in the spring, I enjoy mixing in my very own compost to the raised beds, just knowing that it will provide so much nutrition to what I plant.

    Second, I love planning the beds because it satisfies my sense of organization. Then planting seedlings and seeds and watching them grow day by day.

    Finally, although not a chore, I enjoy taking a bagel out to the garden every morning and adding a breakfast of sugar snap peas and strawberries. Oh yeah, and I really enjoy weeding now that I have raised beds that don't get many weeds at all.

  • lizzymills
    15 years ago

    I love going to the veggie patch and collecting things for dinner each evening.

    I particularly love picking mint to have with the new potatoes. Picking mint was my very serious 'job' and contribution to my families weekly Sunday Roast Dinner as small child living with my Grandma - so collecting it now is so evocative for me.

    I also love the idea that my daughter will have the grave ;-) responsibility of collecting mint when she gets older too.

  • tcstoehr
    15 years ago

    I get a kick out of putting amendments in the soil. Composts, limes, rock phosphate, seed meals, glacial rock dust. I just love the idea of producing top quality soil.

  • lunatoo
    15 years ago

    I love to weed. I find it rather peaceful. It is also fun to figure out new ways to grow and train vegetables. I HATE it when a disease or pest destroys a plant that I have carefully tended to every day.

  • tdscpa
    15 years ago

    Almost agree with jimster.

    My favorite is watering. But before I do that, I have to do the... monitoring. Would not want to do any watering that is not needed.

    Also, watering is hard work. Have to turn a faucet or two. Monitoring is best done with a beer in hand. To do the hard work of watering, a second beer may be required.

    Then, while watering, another beer may be needed to continue monitoring. If any weeds are noticed while monitoring, more beer may be needed if weeding is needed.

    Oops. better shut off the water and stagger to the house. I've done enough work for today.

    Tom

  • momamamo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts and feelings about vegetable gardening. There are a lot of very spiritual souls out there who are seeking more than food for their efforts. You're all a great bunch; it's been a pleasure getting to know you.

    For anyone who hasn't responded to this as yet, read about your fellow gardeners. They have a lot to say. Maureen

  • aka_peggy
    15 years ago

    I have to agree with the person(s) who said they like watching things grow. There's nothing more rewarding than watching a small seed grow into a juicy watermelon or a delicious tomato.

    I guess I like to weed too. I don't really but I don't like the weeds so I'm pretty diligent (anal) about keeping them out.

  • grandpop1
    15 years ago

    I like to sit down by the garden about dusk after working it and just watching it grow.

  • stella_h
    15 years ago

    Digging. I love to dig.
    Planting seedlings.
    Inspecting (daily, at least).
    calling my husband out to ooh and ahh over the first tomato (or eggplant, or pepper, or broccoli, or . . .)
    Chopping down and digging up ugly old shrubs to make room for a new bed.

    And, of course, harvesting.

  • naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
    15 years ago

    Harvesting is my favorite "chore"...it is great to see that everything worked together to grow a tasty crop. Sometimes I see gardens with overripe or even rotting veggies and it makes me realize harvesting must not be everyone's favorite chore although I find that hard to understand.

    I also enjoy hand watering during dry spells. It gives me a close up look at every part of the garden while also helping the plants. Guess it's monitoring with a bit of water added. And it is great when the carefully directed water helps the veggies grow and doesn't give the nearby dry areas a chance to grow weeds.

    And I also like....um...wait a minute...I guess I have alot of favorites when it comes to gardening!

  • ella_bell
    15 years ago

    Besides eating raspberries to spare them from getting crushed on the walk back because I forgot a container for them (my garden is down the street), I love the sense of accomplishment and order I get from weeding a bed of vegetables and mulching it -- it's kind of like cleaning up and putting the plants to bed.

  • peter_6
    15 years ago

    Harvesting, potatoes in particular. There is joy in harvesting potatoes that can't be bought for any money. Then testing the BRIX and having it come up in the excellent numbers. Regards, Peter.

  • andreaz6wv
    15 years ago

    I love going out to check on the garden and seeing something that wasn't there the day before :)

  • sandhill_farms
    15 years ago

    Personally I love all aspects of gardening. From adding compost to the soil - planting - weeding - watering - harvesting and photographing it's all a relaxing pleasure. I even enjoy mowing the lawn.

    If there's one downside to all this it's because I live sixty miles outside of Las Vegas NV and while getting the soil ready for fall planting is necessary, it's a little tough right now. The reason is that the temperature here today is a cool 116 degrees.

  • dirtdauberz5mo
    15 years ago

    andrea - I'm with you - I love the little surprizes that greet me each morning.

    But I also love the satisfaction of serving some good wholesome vegies to my family, and hearing my husband say "Wow, you GREW this?" (gotta love the city boy)!

  • shot
    15 years ago

    ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!

    Shot

  • portlandhigh
    15 years ago

    I love to weed. It looks great when it is done and I find it is very quieting on the mind. I let the weeds dry out and then into the compost pile they go unless they have a ton of seeds.

    Here is a link that might be useful: July Garden Chores

  • plant-one-on-me
    15 years ago

    Eating! LOL I really love all I have done in the garden so far. I took a weed infested back yard, made a couple raised beds, filled with soil, started my own seeds, lovingly weed, look several times a day for that first ripe tomato (some are pinking up!) and now harvesting and eating YUM!

  • natalie4b
    15 years ago

    I love to watch them grow. Every morning going out to see what else was transformed from flower to fruit, and getting bigger every day.

  • sandra_christie
    15 years ago

    I love going out to pick tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, etc. and taking them inside where my husband (who loves to cook) makes something wonderful from them. I love feeding my kids with the wholesome veg from the backyard, and I love listening to them hunting for blueberries, strawberries, and sungold tomatoes and taking them to a little bench to eat together. Ahhh.