Why Do You Garden

[PA_Julia]

I love to grow tomatoes for weight competition. I am competitive by nature and that combined with my love of growing tomatoes equals obsession.

I'm also extremely interested and very much in love with Heirloom tomatoes and really love to sink my teeth into a good story about each one's history and how they came about to be offered today.

[FarmerShawn]

I teach high school in the off season, and my garden gives me unwinding time, without sass and back talk, and without drama. At least, not the teenage kind. Love my students, but I also love seeing direct results for my labors, something teaching sadly lacks.

[crazyoldgooseman]

Originally Posted by Tapout

I garden so I dont kill people.

I gotta go with this one pretty much sums it up.

[ABlindHog]

I plant a garden every spring knowing full well that conditions here are not conducive to success.
It is an annual example of the triumph of hope over experience.

[ChristinaJo]

Originally Posted by Tapout

I garden so I dont kill people.

I can soooo relate!

[Blueaussi]

I garden because I am.

When I am queen of the world and have minions and toadies and flunkies galore, I will still garden. I cannot imagine living without at least a container or two of rich earth to dig with my fingers. Why, when I'm queen, I might even make dirty fingernails fashionable!

[Lindalana]

mmm, my grandparents gardened because they had to feed family
my parents gardened because they had to supplement and feed family
I veggie garden because I prefer taste of home grown food to any store bought one. I grow perennial garden because I believe green manicured grass is stupid and because it is my decorating room where I can change things all the time.
My kids are gardening because they believe home grown and home cooked food is the norm.

[Worth1]

I just had one of the most horrific meals at work I have ever had.
Everything was way salty and processed.
I had to throw it out and settled for an ice cream drumstick for supper.
Darn that stuff was nasty.

Growing and cooking at home keeps us healthy.

Worth

[PaulF]

I garden for all those wonderful philosophical and esoteric reasons listed, but I also really love to watch visitors to my gardens drool. Like many egoists I love being complimented.

This must be a therapy session thread where we say things we have never said before and admit things recessed deep in the inner self. Thanks, I feel better now.

[Tapout]

Gardening calms me. Sometimes I feel I have better conversations with my tomatoes then I do with people.

~ PS It also keeps me from killing people.

[TressJ]

Everything in my life is about someone else or something else, gardening for me is about what I want to do in my life. It’s my hobby, my passion, my obsession, and it tastes good.

[shatbox]

My girlfriend's brother was battling cancer and I wanted to provide him with the best, even if it meant growing it. It was a small space, but it provided peace, quiet, beautiful sunsets, and memories. She and I cared for him, but after he passed it took a while for me to work at it again but I'm getting there. Nature is patient with me. Sunny SoCal doesn't see the dramatic passing of the seasons but there is nothing like feeling the sun and breeze; just being, watching life.

[Noreaster]

Nice thread.

My childhood took place in New York City, in a working class home, lots of siblings and financially humble. Despite a small yard, Mom always put effort
in to grow tomatoes. (And 6-8 corn stalks). Will never forget the smiles on her face once she picked the red hybrids and placed them on the kitchen table each summer.

Likely identical to her thoughts way back then, finding ripe ones to pick absolutely overwhelms me. Honestly, I see the garden yields as a miracle from
heaven. And thank Mommy up there each day for her enlightenment.

Dr. Carol helped along the way, as my Mother enjoyed her Heirloom Tomato
book the same year I brought over several pounds that I'd grown. She began using my seeds growing her own heirlooms, and never looked back at hybrids again. Her absolute favorite was Coustralee, and I grow several plants of it each year in her memory. (and because it's incredibly delicious).

Growing veggies in the garden. Better than just a hobby.

[Rairdog]

Gardening fit in with the Master Plan. I had spent 20 years on the road and living in motels with not much to show for it. Things had to change. I was stressed and health was going downhill from depending on processed foods. A freezer full of venison and veggies cut out a lot of expenses, gave me a enjoyment and made the family more healthy. Then the challenges came which are fulfilling my needs and not the mans.

[clkeiper]

I garden because I can and I can because I garden... but I sell a lot of vegetables and small fruit at farmers markets. It is my contribution to the household without having to be tied down to an employer and dependent on them for a paycheck. I grow mine out in the front 2 acres.