Gardens - what to call them this time around?

It's the "I didn't fall for the Ruth Stout sales pitch" garden.

Dwayne Barry said, "I thought the potential water problems in the west had to due with the draining of large underground water aquifers that are being slowly depleted?"

That's a different part of the West. You have to realize that 'The West' covers nearly half of a very large country. The West Coast (anything west of the Cascade Mountains/Sierra Mountains) is primarily watered by the winter snow pack -- this includes the agricultural areas directly east of those mountains, as well, such as the area where I live. The underground reservoir that you mentioned is far to the east of us, between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River -- the Ogallala Reservoir. I believe it stretches from Texas to the Dakotas. And it is indeed being emptied faster than it can refill.

Whatever we may be calling our gardens now, I think that within a year or two, they will all be called Survival Gardens, because they will be necessary for our survival. That's if the government doesn't make it illegal to grow our own food, as they are trying to do.

Kathleen

How about just plain ol' "garden"? A catchy name tied to the economic times indicate that the garden is only a temporary thing to be discontinued when times get better.

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Ever tried? Ever failed? No Matter, try again, fail again. Fail better.

- Samuel Beckett

Mine is the Garden of Weedin'

Messy Marvins Garden... maiden name was marvin and my Dh's nickname in highschool and the military was messy due to the beginning of his last name. Kinda suits as it usually is a mess of work

My recommendation: Peace Gardens. Sort of a twist on the Victory theme. We cannot achieve world peace so long as we remain dependent on Middle Eastern oil, and growing a garden for partial food self-sufficiency is a step anyone with a little soil can take to help decrease that dependence.

If you wanna have strawberries in January, you're gonna have to stay entangled in the Middle East political quagmire to achieve it. Local eating promotes peace, and none more so than homegrown.

I like Stimulus Garden, too, because it is all about getting things started (so very seed-like!) But I am perfectly happy with Victory Garden because it has the sense of doing what you can with what you've got where you are (as Teddy Roosevelt once said) -- and succeeding.

Considering how close our garden is to the highway, might be best to post a nuclear waste sign.

Well I know I have called mine the "pot garden" more times than not, but thats because I do container gardening for my veggies. Aw, come on, I knew what ya'll were thinking .

My opinion is that 9 out of 10 will be called "weed patches", come September. Most of the newbies will think they can put out a survival garden to beat this downturn. They'll go to Walmart, Meijer, Menards to buy tomato, pepper, and onion SEEDS from the temporary carboard display, a five dollar shovel and hoe, and a bag of Miracle-Grow, thinking that's all they need........ Burpees, Northrup King, et al, should be ashamed of themselves.

In the First Depression, people had some advantage of having extended family members and a prior practice/lifestyle of gardening and farming to provide mentorship for beginners. Today, people are pretty much clueless when it comes to creating their own food. I think there will be many false starts and lots of hungry, complaining people(it might take a winter or two) until a new reality sets in.... And, of course, I sincerely hope it doesn't....

How's that for a grouchy, Jack Cafferty opinion?

We've had a garden every year since FDR had his fiireside chat with us on the radio. Mom called it the THICKET back then, and danged if it still don't look like a thicket most of the time. Don't see any need to switch names now. UNK

Geo in MI, you are probably right. It would behoove all of us to offer our help to the new gardeners we know, because people will be a lot less likely to be looking at our gardens with covetous eyes if they are doing well with their own gardens -- and when I talk about covetous eyes, I mean theft. That can be a bad enough problem in good times (I've lost stuff from my garden even in a rural area, to neighborhood children who had no sense of private property); in bad times it's likely to be a much greater problem. Make sure your neighbors can feed themselves, and they are much less likely to want to help themselves to your food supplies.

Kathleen

I like both Starvin Garden and Survival Garden.

By the way there was a depression era in the late 1800's also, so this would be the 3rd great depression era.

You know I was born and raised in Calif.
Well hubby got trans. to Va when he was in the millitary and I always have a garden. I thought great soil here and planted my tomato's, peas, greenbeans, herbs. Well I was out there watering my garden after weeding it. The garden was only about two weeks in. The sweet little old lady next door came out and said Hi and was just watchin me. She finly came over and said in a real low voice " honey what are you doin" I looked kind of blank and said watering my garden. She gave me a smile and said " where are you from?" I said calif. She let out a little laugh and said " oh now I get it. You don't have to do that here God waters the garden for ya" That little line stumped me and I laughed and said ok that never crossed my mind. She winked at me and went back into her house. I have been in Mo going on 15 years and yes I know God waters here to but I just still have to give things a little squirt when I am done weeding. I don't feel like the job is done unless I do that.
I don't water like I use to tho LOL

How about God's little helper Garden
I plant, He grow's LOL

Ooh, how about "Corporate Greed Garden" or the "Greedy Garden". No, that sounds too negative.

I think I'll call mine "Shine a Little Light" garden.

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~Carla~

I go with "Survival Garden."

RenieB

This year ours will be the "spinich and beans garden". It's the only thing that grows fast enough for us to plant...we'll be moving during harvest so no "long grow" veg for us.

Next year (and all years to come) we will make up for it. Each kid (6 & 10 this year) will have their own raised bed to plant and keep track of. I hope to have 2-3 more for me to take care of next year - DH will spend his winter building garden beds between business trips!!

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Jen
If my typo's bother you, come on over and take a chair. We can discuss it over some "ham and swill calzones"
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