Planting The Generations

I guess when you get right down to it, I'd say that my wife and I have both come from a long history of farmers; not that I've ever put much though into it.

I recall my grandfather planting large fields of strawberries, corn, peanuts and the like. I wish that he was still around so I could really "learn" from him instead of just being a carefree child visiting their farm.

With a smile on her face, my wife has often told me stories of riding on the tractor with her grandfather to the his corn fields and of the farm and animals that were always there.

Planting tree seeds with grand-dad.

Both my father and father-in-law have always had "gardens" that would rival some of the small sustainable living farms that you read about these days.

And as for us, the first time my wife and I planted a garden, in North Alabama, we had someone with at tractor come over and plow up about 1/4 of our backyard. Then we used a tiller to break up the larger "clods". I don't even want to think about the blisters and of how many times I almost buried that tiller in a foot of dirt because it was plowed so deep! We planted and grew so much in that first garden that we gave away 3/4 of the food. Our kids were right there helping.

Who could imagine that soil and planting could become the bedrock of such fond generational memories? And now, my son and daughter are carrying on the agrarian traditions of their heritage in their own ways, with new purpose and meaning.

My daughter and their family use raised beds for veggies, herbs and the like and teach their own kids to plant, harvest and care for the earth (Simple Gifts),

My son and his wife have become involved in an inner-city "pea patch" garden in Seattle to grow some really nice veggies in the incredibly rich northwestern soil. He's gotten actively involved with helping with research studies on their city's rooftop gardening program and how rooftop gardens can assist in soaking up some of the seemingly constant rain.

And now, they are breaking ground on a new community garden on a vacant lot in the heart of West Seattle (Grow Charlestown) and teaching others the benefits and joys of gardening and eating locally grown food.

Even more than sports, music, crafts, or almost any other "activity" that I can think of right now, planting and gardening can draw the generations together in a way that leave the other things seeming sort of hollow. Maybe it's just me, but I long for a more family-based community where we are more a part of each others' lives, planting the values we cherish in the soil of generations to come.

Chris

3GT

Gardening For Geeks Like Me!

For those of you who know me understand that I'm a geek at heart. Working with computers every weekday for 30+ years, it just sort of happens. Most of the time I try and distance myself from my geekiness, but that rascally persona invades reality some of the time. Now is just one of those times.

In the summer we plan to go over to the "left" coast to visit my favorite son and favorite daughter-in-law (I hate that term... but I love her). Anyway... one of the

adventures we've planned involves a day at a symposium type dealio on all things green. In the process, I got on the mailing list of "Mother Earth News" (another term I'm not so fond of), who sends out a newsletter and various informational ezine type info.

Today's really is a good one. On their site they have an online Vegetable Garden Planner. You may have seen them before, but this one really rocks and is truly built for geeks like me (and probably you too if you're still with me).

This online tool allow you to set up the layout of your garden, pick your plants, automatically sizes the plant distribution according to space needs (there's nothing worse than planting cucumbers too close together!) and even has various color backgrounds for family type if you want to do crop rotation. Yep... it really rocks.

Not only that, but once you have your garden (or gardens) saved, you can go to the planner section; which truly becomes geeky with a gantt chart that tells you when to plant and when to harvest your delectable goodies. It also tells you how many you can plant in the space that you have so that you don't have overcrowding.

What could satisfy the geek in me any more than having my very own garden project plan!

This thing will even send you twice month reminders of what to sow when. Can gardening get more geeky than that?

Alas, as with everything, there is a catch... you can get this for 30 days free; but, hey... 30 days free is better than nothing. So, go ahead, get your geek on and design that garden and do some efficient square foot gardening in whatever space you have.

And now you have a tool that will help you lay it out efficiently, just for geeks like me... errr.. US!

3GT

The Older I Get

I've worked in an office setting for pretty much all my life and I find that I can be satisfied with just about whatever I do. Just throw me into something and I dig in start analyzing the problem or project that I'm handed and I find that I can be content with it.

Maybe it's just a quirk that I have, but I'm easy that way.

I can be just as satisfied digging in the dirt (though my body might not agree) and in the last few years I've taken much of my spare time and dedicated it to gardening. In fact, that's the impetus for this blog... sort of a way of recording the things that have worked for me in the garden and the things that have flopped.

For example, last year I tried my hand at a bit of hydroponics; somewhat successfully, I might add. But, in the end the beautiful red peppers that arrived (which were sold to me as Red Bell Peppers) were like a cross between a Bell pepper and a Habanero! The moral, if I can't eat the thing, is it really a success?

The older I get, the more I get out of seeing things grow... kids, grandkids and the things in my garden.

3GT