Yesterday I was out in the garden hacking things into shape while the raspberries sprounted a previously unknown pest (some sort of tiny beetle, which combines with rainwater to create mush and mould) and the slugs savaged the blueberries (still got a little bowl of blueberry goodness!) and the Passion Vine (doing very well in this tropical weather) attempted to engulf me whenever I brushed against it.
The vegetable kingdom is a savage place, sometimes. Friday's question is about that, and is a for-fun question - how do you relate to vegetables? As ever, go to comments with philosophical arguments with the poll, discussions of gardens of your past and future, amusing stories about vegetables, amusing pictures of vegetables and anything else that sparks your fancy.
The vegetable kingdom is a savage place, sometimes. Friday's question is about that, and is a for-fun question - how do you relate to vegetables? As ever, go to comments with philosophical arguments with the poll, discussions of gardens of your past and future, amusing stories about vegetables, amusing pictures of vegetables and anything else that sparks your fancy.
Me and the veg when I was a kid (tick as many as you want)
Hated, feared, loathed and despised all vegetables because that is nature's way
1(3.1%)
Hated veg probably becaus of how they were cooked TBH
3(9.4%)
Hated veg because I am so old that none of the good vegetables were available when I was a kid
4(12.5%)
Was indifferent to vegetablekind/found them tolerable
6(18.8%)
Was indifferent to vegetablekind/found them tasty
7(21.9%)
Liked my vegetables for they were pretty colours
2(6.2%)
Liked my vegetables for the tasty taste
4(12.5%)
Thought vegetables were the best thing ever
2(6.2%)
Refused to eat anything but vegetables
2(6.2%)
Worshipped vegetables (or a particular vegetable)
1(3.1%)
My view of the vegetable kingdom now is:
A cornucopia of deliciousness waiting to be discovered
11(28.9%)
A minefield of the tasty and the terrible, waiting to be picked through
7(18.4%)
Out-of-control self-replicating nanotechnology that must be made safe by cooking
3(7.9%)
A useful way to control the water flow around my house
1(2.6%)
Like a stupid Facebook game, but you get tasty treats a the end!
1(2.6%)
A perpetual fight against mould, wilt, rust, black spot, slugs and other pests and diseases
5(13.2%)
Aaaaaaaaaa-tchoooo! (hayfever)
4(10.5%)
That green stuff that gets everywhere
3(7.9%)
That green stuff at the bottom of the fridge
1(2.6%)
Approach with caution; that stuff can kill you (or at least cause a nasty stomach ache)
2(5.3%)
If the opportunity were available, I would definitely
Grow/support the growth of genetically modified foods (subject to safety checks)
7(15.9%)
Live in a treehouse (if sufficiently awesome)
13(29.5%)
Have plants in my living space that performed active jobs like pest and dirt control
14(31.8%)
Wear growing plants on a semi-permenant basis
3(6.8%)
Get some chloropyll in me to reduce my food and fuel needs
7(15.9%)
Things I grow at the moment
Grass
9(9.7%)
Moss
9(9.7%)
Mould
9(9.7%)
Buddleia
6(6.5%)
Daffodills
6(6.5%)
Tomatoes
3(3.2%)
Roses
9(9.7%)
Potatoes
3(3.2%)
Snowdrops
6(6.5%)
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
2(2.2%)
There's some green stuff outside
12(12.9%)
There's some green stuff inside
10(10.8%)
There's some green stuff on my car
2(2.2%)
All the flowers in the world
3(3.2%)
Another thing which I will tell you about below
4(4.3%)
The most amazing/striking/confusing thing I have ever grown is:
I already have/would like to have in my garden/yard
A lawn
10(11.6%)
A pond
10(11.6%)
A hedge
7(8.1%)
A tree
15(17.4%)
A greenhouse
5(5.8%)
A summerhouse
9(10.5%)
More sun
9(10.5%)
A firepit
6(7.0%)
Exotic wildlife (please say what in comments)
7(8.1%)
Unexotic wildlife (say what if you want to)
8(9.3%)
On the whole, the green stuff:
Loves me and wants to be my friend
3(11.1%)
Sees me as potential useful organic fertiliser
5(18.5%)
Is all around my and within me, man
4(14.8%)
Is banished beyond the tidy wall of civolization
1(3.7%)
Will conquer our ruins
14(51.9%)
Pick one thing you will grow in your garden next year:
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cleanskies- Jeremy Dennis is Jeremy Day
- Jeremy Dennis's alleged literature
Comments
My issue is with strangling plants. Brambles particularly (I have a zero tolerance policy) but also ground elder, ivy, bindweed and laurel.
I like the idea of living in a tree that scavenges dirt, exudes a resinous scent and maybe flowers in odd places. Not pest control though (see above). I cultivate spiders to control the insect population. Actually Some big furry spiders to control the mice would be useful...
That reminds me, there's a spider the size of my thumb joint in the greenhouse! It's huuuuuge
This year the slugs and snails ate every legume, so we're sticking to woody climbers and hollyhocks.
Exotic veg (when in season)was served to me as a child as a supper snack to keep me going between getting home from school and dinner when dad got in. Of course, I would get crisps often as not, or seedless grapes, but rare artichokes instead were a special treat. I still buy artichokes as a sporadic treat now (though they are slow food so a sign that I'm not rushed or busy - which isn't often.) I like eating radishes like sweets and longon are tasty but fiddly.
Edited at 2014-08-15 08:17 (UTC)
I have spotted durian in London Chinatown, and Wing Yip claims to get them in the summer season. One day I'll buy one (they are sort of horrible AND moreish) but it would involve a very unpopular tube ride home!
All of these fruits are presumably available daily on the Cowley Road - knock yourself out!
The garden wildlife is limited to foxes, cats, squirrels, pigeons, rooks, parakeets and the very-occasional woodpecker. Oh, and sometimes a jay. And children.
Clematis needs a deep pot and some damp in it. It won't do warm and shallow. Fragrant Oberon's good for a pot.
Pretty good gardening for no garden!
Herbs on the windowsill. Some straggly mixed leaves. A dragon plant (Bernard) and a peace Lily. Bernard arrived in my life as a scrawny punkish thing in 2008 and has since grown somewhat. He probably needs repotting again but I fear a) this is now a two person job and b) that it'll only encourage him.
Wild animals
Since I only have a garden in my imagination having a kindly tiger/leopard/panther visit is entirely possible.
I became vegetarian at the age of 13 and I think I probably ate most of what was put in front of me as a kid. My dad doesn't like spinach so we didn't get that - ditto pumpkin which my mum doesn't like. The very pinacle (or perhaps root) of vegetable delight when I was a kid though was the roast parsnip.
Go on, repot Bernard. Don't fear the dragon!