On Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:14:06 -0600, Ron Hoggan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hi Robert,
> ...
> It is a lot of work to have a good sized garden.

I don't doubt it -- I just think it would be more work to hunt and gather.

I do appreciate your point, and I know the questions are intended to be  
more food for though than actual questions, but just so you know where I'm  
coming from, here are my answers:

> I just have a few questions for you:
> 1. Have you ever used a roto-tiller in your garden?

No.  I'm not a big fan of tilling, and any soil work I do is done with  
hand tools.

> 2. Do you purchase seeds to sow your garden?

Not often.  I raise only open pollinated heirloom varieties and keep my  
own seed.  But I do sometimes purchase new seed just to try new varieties.

> 3. Is your garden fenced to keep out animals that would eat the produce  
> of your garden?

No.  That's what dogs are for.  :-)

> 4. Did you purchase the buckets to carry the water for  your garden?

They were given to me, but yes, they were manufactured elsewhere.

> 5. Do you use steel tools for your gardening?

Yes.  Primarily a hoe and a shovel.

> 6. Have you ever tried making and using wooden or rock tools?

Actually, yes.  But I'm not very good at it (particularly stone).  (If I  
grew up making them, it might be different.)

> 7. What other commercial products do you use to help you with your  
> gardening?

None, really.  I don't use pesticides or fertilizers.  (Fertilizer comes  
 from the chickens, and pesticides haven't seemed absolutely necessary.)  I  
do have steel fence posts with ropes to hold up the tomatoes and the  
grapes, but wooden stakes and vines or cord would work just as well, and  
even that isn't strictly necessary.  (The greenhouse that I use in the  
winter is just a wooden frame with a clear plastic sheet over it -- no  
heating, no drip systems, no extra lights, nothing like that.  But I will  
readily admit that primitive man did not have a greenhouse, so that's  
really not relevant.)

And it's also not all vegetables.  We also planted several fruit and nut  
trees -- these can produce a huge amount of food without requiring any  
effort at all after the first year or so. But you do have to gather the  
fruits.  :-)

And yes, I am somewhat of a throwback in my approach -- I think there is  
value in doing things by hand, and being closer to the land and the food.   
Mechanization is too crude and impersonal.

--
   Robert Kesterson
   [log in to unmask]