What inspires you to plant a garden?

[Bobberman]

I should have been a farmer. Gardening to me if first in my life now even ahead of fishing or anything else. When I was younger softball came first then fishing but as I got over 55 gardening dominated everything! Besides enjoying the freshness of the garden delights watching them grow and giving someone something that I grew ,it all made me proud to be a gardener!There are so many benefits from gardening even the great outdoor exercise. When you enjoy something you will see that time seems to fly! Every weekend I spend 10 hours in the garden like it was only 2!

Maybe the inventiveness of so many ways to plant and so many things to plant makes it a type of sport like no other. Its you against and with nature at its best! There is a tomato called Endless Summer by Burpee. That tomato makes me think that garden is endless since there are so many things you can do and read. Its like mixing with and being part of the birds and bees the flowers and the trees. I simply LOVE Gardening how about you???

[applestar]

I agree with you. I step out to do something simple and don't come back inside for hours. I often pour myself a cup of coffee and if I forget to take it outside with me, it is cold by the time I'm back in the kitchen. (I stopped thinking I can step out to get a sprig of herbs for something I'm cooking on the stove. )

Why are chores outside of the house -- in the garden -- not so much of a chore as inside the house? There are so many things to see -- birds and animals and insects -- and do. And the plants you have planted and cared for rewards you by visibly growing and producing.

And like you, I enjoy the challenge of the puzzles presented and also admire Nature's solutions when I see birds carrying off a pest bug -- yesterday, I saw a house wren bundling an unrecognized long green caterpillar in its beaks prior to heading back to the wrenhouse -- or predatory insects already patrolling an infested plant -- like the delicate green lacewing eggs I found on the pea pod. I like thinking about the unseen microbes doing the same -- I just learned about a fascinating fly killer fungus in this thread.

I love planting the garden in ways to work WITH nature and not against it.

[bryce d]

It seemed like everyone and everything in the world was getting so complex, and so expensive. I thought it was time to take a break from being the hippest and coolest, and thinking that I am soooo important in this world. (talk about being a big fish in a very small pond).
I just wanted to get back to the simpler things in life. Sure enjoy myself more, never thought weeding a garden would be so relaxing.

Wow that is "thinking big" isn't it.

[Bobberman]

The saying down to earth is really gardening !
I am so happy when my week ends and I have 2 days to work in the greenhouse and garden!

[cdog222]

Ironically enough for me, my childhood memories of gardening were horrible. I had to turn the entire garden with a shovel in the spring, and was relegated to pulling weeds all summer long. I guess mulching wasn't a thing back then, because it was all exposed dirt - and a lot of damn weeds!

Fast forward from that point 15 years to when I had my first house - I guess my childhood experience wasn't all that bad, because I felt compelled to start my own back yard garden. It was like my Mom's - rectangular, with everything planted in rows. During this period, I still wasn't really connected with what I was doing, or what was actually happening but I did have a knack for growing things.

Fast forward another 10 years, we moved to our current residence. I immediately started another garden, but something was different this time around. I didn't make a big square or rectangle, I started small and build a bed here, a bed there, and added some flowers as I went. A funny thing happened at some point - I started observing what was really happening around me, and I have been captivated ever since.

I am amazed at how much life there is in and around the garden. Its almost like a little window into the grand circle of life, whether it be the life cycle of the plants, or the relationships between predators and prey. It gives me a sense of what is really important to me - being connected and respectful of nature, and on a larger scale, our planet. This ultimately leads to a sense of purpose, which is food for the soul - and the belly when things work out well!

[pinksand]

I love everyone's descriptions of how their passion developed. I think for me gardening was more of a gradually growing interest that took off running when we bought our first house.

As a child my sister and I each had our own large barrels we got to plant with annuals and each had a little raised bed each that we got to plant with edibles. Tending to our gardens was our responsibility, and I think I liked the sense of purpose it gave me. We were also paid a penny per dandelion we picked so I guess I've been weeding gardens for as long as I can remember. I also used to collect insects and create little habitats for them out of shoe boxes with windows made from saran wrap. The poor things always died, but I think it built a level of respect in me towards my garden visitors.

It's interesting because my sister had the same experiences growing up, but she ended up with a black thumb and absolutely no interest in gardening. In high school my husband (then boyfriend) gave me a little lucky bamboo plant that sparked my interest in indoor gardening and lead to my dorm room and then first apartment looking a bit like jungles. We bought our first house 2 years ago this July and my interest just seemed to explode. As others have mentioned I spend hours upon hours out pulling weeds, planting, making plans every weekend during the growing season. Last year I grew my first plants from seed and this year is my first year growing veggies. There's so much to learn and I feel myself growing right along with the plants I tend to. It's something that just feels natural to me and I feel at home in my garden. It's a good thing I do have such a large space to work with outside because our house has finally recovered from tropical plant overload as my interest has spilled into the great outdoors.

At first my interest was solely based on creating beauty. Then it progressed into an interest in function and the ecological impact of what I was planting, focusing a bit more on planting beautiful natives and plants that will benefit local wildlife. Now I'm starting to like the idea of providing food for myself (and friends/family/neighbors if I have enough success) in planting edibles. I really do love it

[valley]

My folks made growing such fun, it's something I have to do.

cdog222, Mom & Daddy, when they were turning the earth, as you said, they would be singing and happy. When I turn the soil over with the shovel, I'm with them. I sing the songs they sang and we laugh and talk. I'm going out now to be with them.


Richard

[Gary350]

I garden mostly to get good tomatoes. Grocery store tomatoes SUCK. I garden to relax and I enjoy the fresh FREE vegetables. Once the garden is planted I only spend about 5 minutes 2 times a week in the garden dealing with weeds or grass and harvesting vegetables.

[lexusnexus]

For me, it's not a simple answer. But, basically, it's fun. I like playing in the dirt. Yeah, there's the fruits of your labor reward aspect. And the fact that I can enjoy some fresh, healthy food. It's more that that. It allows me quality time with me. I can relax and work as hard as I want, or not. I can work at my own pace. How's that for a rambling way to just say I enjoy it.

[McKinney88]

My family is my inspiration. First part of that is that I'm 25 now with two 7 month old twins and I catch myself wanting to feed them good foods and to be able to have the joy of going outside and eating a tomato fresh off a plant like I did. Part 2 of it is we always had a garden whether it was in our little mobile home or when we had 10 acres in Michigan. I remember always hating to pull weeds and thought that blue liquid stuff (miracle grow) was cool. Dad would always till the ground and make the rows and have us help plant and put miracle grow down. I never payed to much attention to it then, but now I'm moved out and married with kids, I catch myself remembering all these little things from working in dads garden whenever I am working in mine. Gardening has allowed my dad and I to develop a great friendship and bond over gardening. Now he tells me stories of him working in is dads garden when he was a kid and is teaching me the growing methods and traditions. I absolutely cannot not wait for the the day one of my little children gets excited about going to play in the garden with me.

-Stephen

[Bobberman]

Looks like we hit on a good topic here! One of my favorite things is digging dirt from anywhere and straining it and mixing it with some composted manure of some rich soil and making a new raised bed or cold frame with it! I am planning to do a key hole garden this weekend! lots of rain so everything is growing fast!

[DownriverGardener]

To sum up my own feelings - I am obsessed. It's a hobby, a love, a project. It's something to worry about ("Oh sh_t honey, look at that T-storm cell coming our way!"), and it's something to be proud of. The past three years I've been selling my produce as a way to share my organic vegetables with the community, and to help pay for my gardens.

It will be something I do for the rest of my life, and I'm only in my late 20's! I have so much to learn.

[weterman]

I like gardening because I can put a seed in the ground and wait, then I will get food. I like the science part of gardening too, like how the plants work and grow.

[imafan26]

It is hard to say what inspires me. I have always been interested in playing in the dirt since my childhood days and I never outgrew it. I read books and experimented and it was always a sense of accomplishment to see the seeds sprout to life and watch them grow. I just kept expanding on growing different things and I joined orchid clubs and volunteered at botanical gardens. I have a close circle of friends but I spent a lot of time by myself and gardening was something I can do to entertain myself for hours. Besides, l much rather work in the yard than do housework.

[6sparkpug6]

I like gardening because I can put a seed in the ground and wait, then I will get food. I like the science part of gardening too, like how the plants work and grow.

Couldn't agree with you more. I love harvesting and eating what I grew. The science is interesting as well, though I'd rather avoid all of the harmful bugs and funguses.

[erins327]

I agree with ALL the statements been made about it being a hobby, a passion, and an obsession.

This year I went back to school and am full-time and am not working. Having the garden has saved us $100's so far. (Trust me, I happily keep track with an Excel spreadsheet)

I can eat as healthy as possible, with almost every meal encompassing something from the garden, and extremely cheaply.

[jal_ut]

"What inspires you to plant a garden?"

Hmmmm, guess it was something my father always did, and grandpa too, It was just a way of life out on the farm and I have stuck with it. We pretty much ate what we grew.

[imafan26]

I have always liked growing things since I was a child. I don't know where I got it from since no one else in the family was really interested in it.

I remember planting corn on the side of our rented house. I grew roses and chrysanthemums and did a whole lot of weeding. I did not have any other activities except for the chess club and I am not very athletic. I watched tv and I gardened and I had my pets to keep me company.

I used to go to sleep reading my garden books every night.

Now, I look things up on the computer, the printing in most books and newspapers are too small to read without glasses.

My cats still wake me up in the morning and wait for me when I get home. Once in a while one of my cats who can open the screen door will come outside to get me if she thinks I have been out of her sight for too long. I keep the front door locked most of the time now and the back door open so she can watch me from there. She can't open that door...yet.

I still like to be out in a garden nearly every day, but at least now know I have to plant corn in a block if I want to get any ears of corn to eat.