This is an interesting discussion. I think it depends on what you feel is the primary purpose of your garden. I can think of three reasons a person may have to grow vegetables: 1. Superior quality of homegrown produce. If this is your primary goal, then you would want to stick with stuff that tastes much better than what you get at the store, like tomatoes. If it doesn't taste a lot better than storebought, then maybe it isn't worth growing, and you should just buy it at the store. 2. Self-sufficiency If this is your primary goal, then even if you can get it at the store, you might still want to grow it yourself, just for the independence of growing your own food. If it doesn't yield well or takes a lot of labor to grow, then maybe it's not worth growing just because it's taking away time or space from other crops that you can rely upon better for a good food supply. 3. Seed saving/plant breeding and variety preservation If this is your primary goal, then production of food is a side effect of preserving genetic material. In this case, a variety might not be worth growing if it's very common, and you want to concentrate on rare varieties or your own family heirlooms or breeding projects. And then, of course, you could be like me, trying to do ALL THREE THINGS AT ONCE, and making things really hard on yourself. ;-) Of course they're not mutually exclusive, but concentrating on one can take your focus away from another.

I don't get it. Now you seem to be claiming that you shouldn't be faulted in any way since this all happened when your dogs were left in the backyard while you were at work. Yet in your first post you described the "fun game" Gus plays attacking the lawn co. sprayer similar to the way he does a hose pipe, as if you witnessed him turning into a "neon yellow highlighter" yourself. Which is it? Either way, it should have NEVER happened. Shelby Turf & Shrub was at fault for doing it the first time whether you were at home or not...and should be held responsible. But please tell me how you can possibly not feel guilty and not consider yourself at fault for allowing it to continue numerous times ("everytime he comes out")? I'm sorry if you're feeling "flamed", but whether intentional or not I don't much care for the somewhat whimsical way (with a smiley face, even?) in which you told of your poor dog being repeatedly exposed to potentially harmfull lawn chemicals. Believe it or not, I'm a pretty easy going guy but I really don't care if this a gardening forum or a pet owner's forum, I can't stand hearing about animal abuse WHEREVER it rears its ugly head. Would you have allowed a child to be sprayed down? Or is it ok as long as it's just a dog that can be put down before you have to incur expensive vet bills? Give me a break!

good evening!!! i am not an expert, but i love to raise pumpkins, the uglier the better! i do not need to fertilize, my soil here seems to be very nitrogen rich. as said above, you will have MANY male flowers, and a few females. do you have more than one plant? i try to have at the very least two of each kind three is best for cross pollination...earwigs, ants, natts, flies wasps also pollinate. as said above you can hand pollinate, be sure that the dew has dried, be sure the sun has dried the pollen. snip the male flower or use a q-tip then you know you have lots of yellow pollen. i do not clip vines until i see that the female is growing, then i clip about 6 inches from the growth, if i have more that one vine that is. i measure my pumpkins, and good growth is 1/4 inch a day. when they start to orange up, they stop growth. good luck!!!! pictire is one of my female peanut pumpkins....

A lot of people might use organic methods but live right on top of large farms that use lots of chemicals so these chemicals are within an 1/8 mile or less. I believe as this is just my opinion that this negates any claims that their stuff is chemical free. Runoff is water from rain and melted snow which is not absorbed and captured by the soil, but runs over the ground and in and out of loose soil. Farm runoff is water leaving farm fields because of rain - melted snow - or possibly irrigation methods. As runoff moves, it picks up and carries pollution, which it can deposit into rivers,small ponds, lakes, coastal waters, and underground sources of drinking water. Agricultural runoff include,s pollution from soil erosion, livestock feeding systems, grazing, plowing, animal waste, and herbicides-pesticides, irrigation water, and fertilizer. Pollutants from farming include soil particles, pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, salts, and nutrients such as excessive nitrogen - phosphorus. Large levels of nitrates from fertilizers in the runoff can infiltrate drinking water I wonder if these so-called organic method gardeners that say they are chemical-free explain this to their customers. All certified organic growers are the proper distance away from farm fields that use lots of different chemicals to prevent cross contamination or at least they should be. When I choose to grow produce for sale I do not mention anything even close to the word organic because I am NOT certified and tested and inspected and licensed ORGANIC If people ask me what chemicals I use for my operation they get all of my information. If they don,t ask I do not say anything because the weed/bug sprays that I use are available over the counter and are legal to use without special fed, or county-govt. permits. Nick