How Gardening Has Changed Over the Years...

[Shellyann36]

Over my lifetime (42 years) gardening has changed quite a bit. With progress comes fewer family gardens and more people relying on the grocery stores to get their fresh produce. Gardening has become more of a hobby rather than a way of survival. Perhaps it is just the fact that I grew up in the country so we lived differently. We relied on our gardens for produce for our households as well as for any animals that we kept for meat or eggs. We always had a large family garden that my Mama and my aunt tended while my uncle tended acres of corn for the chickens, hogs and to sell to deer hunters during hunting season. That is how I grew up in my early years but as time went on things changed. The years brought the death of my uncle and the farm animals were gotten rid of. My aunt and Mama kept a large vegetable garden for a few more years but eventually that stopped as well.

Now we all (myself, family) have small gardens to supplement our grocery bill but we are not dependent on the garden as we were in the past.

From listening to my Granny talk about their gardens when she was younger, I realized that much had changed from the time that she was young until the time that she was schooling me on "real gardens". When she was growing up it was not unheard of for several members of the family to stay up at night with shotguns to keep the raccoons out of the corn or away from the hen houses. There was acres of crops to tend to and it was all used by the family or sold as a bit of income for the things that could not be grown such as coffee and sugar. Putting food by was a way of life and if you did not grow what you could during the warm months and put it by for the colder months those cold months might be very lean.

So that is how gardening has changed over the years in my family. How has it changed in your family?

 

[Trellum]

My great grandparents were farmers, so I'd say things have changed a lot. Sadly we don't even have a vegetable garden (for now), so we depend 100% on the grocery stores and whatever they bring. It's quite expensive, I must say. Not to mention the pesticides do really worry me, but I try to relax and not to think about that, it serves no purpose after all.

 

[Chuck]

Over my lifetime (42 years) gardening has changed quite a bit. With progress comes fewer family gardens and more people relying on the grocery stores to get their fresh produce. Gardening has become more of a hobby rather than a way of survival. Perhaps it is just the fact that I grew up in the country so we lived differently. We relied on our gardens for produce for our households as well as for any animals that we kept for meat or eggs. We always had a large family garden that my Mama and my aunt tended while my uncle tended acres of corn for the chickens, hogs and to sell to deer hunters during hunting season. That is how I grew up in my early years but as time went on things changed. The years brought the death of my uncle and the farm animals were gotten rid of. My aunt and Mama kept a large vegetable garden for a few more years but eventually that stopped as well.

Now we all (myself, family) have small gardens to supplement our grocery bill but we are not dependent on the garden as we were in the past.

From listening to my Granny talk about their gardens when she was younger, I realized that much had changed from the time that she was young until the time that she was schooling me on "real gardens". When she was growing up it was not unheard of for several members of the family to stay up at night with shotguns to keep the raccoons out of the corn or away from the hen houses. There was acres of crops to tend to and it was all used by the family or sold as a bit of income for the things that could not be grown such as coffee and sugar. Putting food by was a way of life and if you did not grow what you could during the warm months and put it by for the colder months those cold months might be very lean.

So that is how gardening has changed over the years in my family. How has it changed in your family?

I was first introduced into the vegetable garden as soon as I could pull weeds and use a hoe, about 6 or 7 years old, about 1950. We were self-sufficient in those days growing most of our foods and selling to local markets Our garden was more of a farm than anything else, in total about 13 acres. In those days it was chemicals. Chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and the chemicals we used in those days have been banned for years now. They were really nasty. Most if not all of the seeds we planted were what is today called heirloom, none of todays hybrids. Even back then up until the mid 70's we used organic methods alongside chemicals but then realized it was costing us more and more each year for the same amount of produce. The cost of oil based chemical fertilizers went through the roof and we didn't have the money to maintain crop production so we went organic. At first we were only partially sucessful but it didn't take but about 3 years until we were back where we were and after that even more productive. We traded produce for manure. There was a Dr Pepper making facility in Austin where they gave us their left overs after making their soft drinks. It was almost pure sugar and we poured it over the manure and garden refuse and always had at least 2 big compost piles going. I will never forget our main defence against insects and caterpillars. A flock of about 200 guinnaes, by far the stupidist bird alive, but they are extremely effective if you can keep them from getting run over on the highway. Then in the mid 80's more and more different plants came on the market, the hybrids, with which we experimented, many times increasing our yields. Then, by the 90's mom and dad are too old and I have been out trying to make some money, the government is telling us how things must be done and the taxes have gone astronomical mom and dad sold the place. A once beautiful little farm is now a subdivision of lookalike MacMansions. So to make a long story short I guess the biggest change in my life of gardening has been from chemicals to straight organics. I was lucky enough to be around when it really started and now Texas leads the world in organic gardening products. Now there are so many new organic methods, products and just plain knowledge that I cannot keep up with it all.

 

[Jewell]

Shellyann, this is such an interesting question. It really made me think of the changes in our society and in our lives over such a short time. My son is a chef and manager for a local restraunant. They are very particular where they get their foods from and are very connected with local sources.

My parents didn't garden. My dad felt that only poor people had a veggie garden and that he would provide for the family and the family wouldn't have to toil in the dirt. He saw gardening as a whole lot of work, which it is if you are doing it for all your food supplies. Guess growing up poor he didn't see the benefits of playing in a garden, only very hard work.

My mom did preserve food though (peaches, green beans, pickles and jams) and she stocked a pantry full for winter with canned foods bought on sale in the fall. My parents both hunted and we often prepared the carcass ourselves for the freezer. I was in middle school when we first started buying beef from a neighbor. The freezer was always stocked once a year with fresh meat either venison or a locally grown steer. One year my mom decided to raise chickens for meat. We killed, plucked, cleaned and processed 50 birds for the freezer. That was when I learned how to cut up a whole chicken.

I lived in a farming community in central Idaho in my late 20's. At the time in this community most people lived a very self-sufficient life. Seeing the women work all summer in the garden and putting up can goods from early summer through fall brought home how much hard work growing all your own food is. Then there is fixing all that food for meals too. I have trouble just getting all my blueberries and raspberries picked and frozen, and picking and cooking what few veggies I grow. Raising your own food can definitely be a full time job with very long work hours. We are very spoiled with the ease in which we get our food. There are some definite costs though that are being exposed about what is in our foods and what is happening to the things we eat.

After watching Food, Inc. (if you haven't seen it yet do) and what has happened to our food supply it has certainly encouraged me to grow a little more produce, eat what is in season and to buy locally. Developing an allergy to foods with gluten has made me think more about what I eat. Knowing that five other people at work have diagnosed food related illnesses increases my concerns. I worry about what might be happening to children now but not show up until later.

So I am gardening a little more each year. I've bought a few blueberry bushes each year and expanded my raspberry row. I've changed from growing in no till beds to growing on a Huglekultur. My first Huglekultur even though started this spring is doing very well. A few greens, tomatoes, cucumbers are covering it this summer. Even planted some wheat grass for the dogs. I am collecting logs to start another Huglekultur where my squash plants are and will collect bricks this winter to provide boundaries for it. Just a little more garden each year.

 

[Gardener]

For my family, I have been also raised in the country, but it was a small piece of land, so it was nothing special. My family has been gardening for a while back then, but it was nothing fancy. There were a couple plants here and there. However, in the recent years, as I have become more and more obsessed with gardening, we have been able to nearly half our grocery bill, although that wasn't the objective. I merely wanted to garden because it gives me a place to go to when I want to relax. On top of that, it feels good to be around nature for even 10 minutes a day.

 

[headfullofbees]

Because we have such a crowded little island, growing large amounts of your own food is not really part of our culture or recent heritage.

Land is expensive and gardens (yards) are small, sometimes tiny, if they exist at all.

It is only with the horrendous food-price inflation of the past 5-10 years, and the plummet in quality of supermarket produce, that grow-your-own has really taken off again, and that rise in popularity has led to price inflation for the tools, materials and seeds to grow your own food.

Many in the UK just grow one or two bits and bobs, wishing they could grow more.

For me, gardening was chosen only as a hobby to keep me active when I had to give up formal employment to look after my wife, about twelve years ago.

I've become keener and keener as the years have passed, and I'm fortunate enough to have a council allotment.
I also made many, many of my mistakes when costs were lower.
Now I grow food for flavour and nutrition as organically as possible.
I will never get organic status, as all it takes is the bloke next to me using some organophosphates and I'd lose accreditation, but I now grow without any petro-chemicals..

 

[zigs]

Apart from my Grandparents growing a few Raspberries and my Dad keeping a formal garden, it's been me that's got into growing food.

Started at the age of 7 when my neighbour gave me some spare Beetroot to plant out, then moved on to Radishes and Sweet Corn.

Since then i've learned about most aspects of growing your own, still got plenty to learn though. Still get defeated by slugs and plant diseases, but usually have something to make a meal out of going on

 

[MindyT]

Growing up, my family would have a small garden. We would grow cucumbers, pumpkins, watermelon, lettuce, and a few other veggies. Then there were our raspberry bushes and strawberries. We had a ton of those! My grandma would make jellies, preserves, and pies from the berries. Our backyard was a cornfield!

Now, I love gardening. I don't have as much land. I would love a big garden and a huge yard, but right now, that is not possible. My son hates to be in the garden with me. He can't stand the dirt!

 

[zigs]

My Dad told me you have to eat a ton of dirt before you die.

Never worked out what he meant by that??

 

[Pat]

As you say gardening has changed, not as many people interested in gardening to eat or reduce the food bill. When my family was young and we lived in California I grew food to help the bills, now I grow just to have food that does not have chemicals added and the fun of gardening.

 

[Chuck]

Apart from my Grandparents growing a few Raspberries and my Dad keeping a formal garden, it's been me that's got into growing food.

Started at the age of 7 when my neighbour gave me some spare Beetroot to plant out, then moved on to Radishes and Sweet Corn.

Since then i've learned about most aspects of growing your own, still got plenty to learn though. Still get defeated by slugs and plant diseases, but usually have something to make a meal out of going on

You have a very interesting garden. A greenhouse and what looks like a very nice hot box. Plus other interesting things like that bell shaped thing. But what I can see in this pic, the most valuable thing is that bench. I have the exact same bench and that bench is where I do my pondering as what do do next.........................and drink a bunch of beer deciding

 

[zigs]

Cheers Chuck

It's my Sisters plot, but I do a lot of the work in it (I live in a caravan on the plot)

Way behind this year on account of selling my old house and getting a full time job at the same time, but in previous years i've had the hot beds producing stuff in January. I get free fresh horse poo from the local stables and put 6 inches of soil on top, really warms it up

Greenhouse needs taking apart and putting back upright after the hurricane. The bell cloche has got a Cayenne and a Naga Chilli under it.

The bench is an integral part, much wine drinking gets done there

 

[Chuck]

Cheers Chuck

It's my Sisters plot, but I do a lot of the work in it (I live in a caravan on the plot)

Way behind this year on account of selling my old house and getting a full time job at the same time, but in previous years i've had the hot beds producing stuff in January. I get free fresh horse poo from the local stables and put 6 inches of soil on top, really warms it up

Greenhouse needs taking apart and putting back upright after the hurricane. The bell cloche has got a Cayenne and a Naga Chilli under it.

The bench is an integral part, much wine drinking gets done there

Too bad about getting a full time job, my condolences. I do have a bit of advice though. I believe your bench would see much more production if planted under a shade tree.

 

[Pat]

The bench is an integral part, much wine drinking gets done there

Every yard needs a bench to drink wine on, Sounds like a lot of good times on that bench. It has not really been hot in our area, I did not plant as I had planned waiting for it to get warmer.

 

[zigs]

It's a bummer, leave home at 6am, don't get back till 5 or 6pm

The bench is in a good place, don't get that hot in England