Current Events > My grandmother grows fruits and vegetables in her garden.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Now well into her late 80s, she still cultivates an impressive garden each year. I really have no idea how she manages it, since she walks with a cane, but I make sure to send her a few hundred each year for her birthday and Christmas so she can afford to continue gardening and occasionally shopping without breaking the bank. It's an awe and joy seeing it in person when I have the chance to visit her.

She learned the skills as a child. Her father made a lot of money from gambling, and invested it in a large farm where they raised all kinds of livestock and grew produce to sell to the broader community. In spite of the racism of the south in that era, not even the racists could bother my grandmother's family since they fed everyone in town with their farm, black and white, and everyone knew them.

I wish I had a fraction of that skill. My own garden is dead and is overrun with weeds right now.

It's sad to think about how, generationally speaking, we're losing certain knowledge, skills, and public engagement of our forebears and becoming almost totally dependent on amoral faceless entities to feed and take care of us.

pics of grandma

Your gran sounds based as fuck

omgehh

TheMikh posted...

I wish I had a fraction of that skill. My own garden is dead and is overrun with weeds right now.

I just gave up and planted weeds, then tomatoes just appeared on their own.

Questionmarktarius posted...

I just gave up and planted weeds, then tomatoes just appeared on their own.

You used reverse psychology on your garden?

How big is her garden? I'm envious, and I think community gardens should be an integral part of most towns.

I have a large garden and also do home preserving (canning) that is becoming a lost art, even if my area of the Midwest where it used to be so prevalent. Everyone loves my garden fresh canned goods. Last time I made my sweet zucchini relish I made 16 cases (192 jars) due to all the demand, and zucchini I had.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/8/4/AADo0PAAEyr4.jpg

archizzy posted...

I have a large garden and also do home preserving (canning) that is becoming a lost art, even if my area of the Midwest where it used to be so prevalent. Everyone loves my garden fresh canned goods. Last time I made my sweet zucchini relish I made 16 cases (192 jars) due to all the demand, and zucchini I had.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/8/4/AADo0PAAEyr4.jpg

If you ever sell it online, give us a link. I love that homemade ish.

Dakimakura posted...
I don't feel comfortable posting pictures of people I know.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

will try to reply to everyone else afterward.

well i respect da hell out of ur grandmas garden tc

Questionmarktarius posted...

I just gave up and planted weeds, then tomatoes just appeared on their own.

Nice. One of the flower cultivars I've grown is notoriously invasive but it's failed to replant more than once. That was the only thing I've successfully grown in my garden that wasn't bought at the store and physically planted in the soil.

Guide posted...

How big is her garden? I'm envious, and I think community gardens should be an integral part of most towns.

I'm a terrible judge of space, but my house is on a quarter acre (maybe 1/8 backyard?) and her backyard is a smaller than mine by maybe a third or half at most with a shed. She plants along the edges, aside from where it's paved near the house.

archizzy posted...

I have a large garden and also do home preserving (canning) that is becoming a lost art, even if my area of the Midwest where it used to be so prevalent. Everyone loves my garden fresh canned goods. Last time I made my sweet zucchini relish I made 16 cases (192 jars) due to all the demand, and zucchini I had.

Very impressive, and sounds good. What steps do you take to keep the soil cleared of unwanted weeds? I've found chamomile to be useful for keeping it free of bacteria and fungus, but it seems like weeds have to be picked since herbicides kill everything and are out of the question as such.

Dakimakura posted...

well i respect da hell out of ur grandmas garden tc

She's wonderful. In addition to gardening she has crystal clear long term memory, which was helpful in my research of that branch of the family.

TheMikh posted...

Nice. One of the flower cultivars I've grown is notoriously invasive but it's failed to replant more than once. That was the only thing I've successfully grown in my garden that wasn't bought at the store and physically planted in the soil.

I planted tomatillos one year, and those keep coming back on their own too.

Questionmarktarius posted...

I planted tomatillos one year, and those keep coming back on their own too.

My subdivision was built on farmland, I just don't know why I can't keep anything alive in my yard except the lawn. The summer droughts and spring/winter storms don't help.

TheMikh posted...

Very impressive, and sounds good. What steps do you take to keep the soil cleared of unwanted weeds? I've found chamomile to be useful for keeping it free of bacteria and fungus, but it seems like weeds have to be picked since herbicides kill everything and are out of the question as such.

Breakdown cardboard boxes so they late flat and cover the area. Then cover with mulch. You can use straw, grass clippings, tree leaves, or actual garden mulch. Cardboard is too thick for many weed plants to penetrate, it also helps choke out any existing weeds, as well as preventing seed germination. The additional mulch layer prevents any weeds that do penetrate the cardboard from reaching maturity.

Some people use newspaper, other people use some type of soil tarp, and some people simply cut down on their tilling which spreads weed seeds, and just keep on top of it by hand pulling. There are a number of ways to handle it.

Where are the grandma pics?

archizzy posted...

I have a large garden and also do home preserving (canning) that is becoming a lost art, even if my area of the Midwest where it used to be so prevalent. Everyone loves my garden fresh canned goods. Last time I made my sweet zucchini relish I made 16 cases (192 jars) due to all the demand, and zucchini I had.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/8/4/AADo0PAAEyr4.jpg

Dude that looks fire

archizzy posted...
Thanks, I took note for the next time I'm planting. The weed barrier I'm currently using either isn't cutting it, or might just be eroding under the mulch and soil since it's been a few years now since adding it.

Strider102 posted...
Not posting pictures of her, but here's a picture of part of her garden. Cropped a little bit to mitigate any odds of geolocation.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/5/8/AAFFpAAAE5Xm.jpg