4 ms·

Yes, one of the main reasons to have a garden. I guess the next article will be "Fishing instead of swimming in the Ocean"

cnity 2y ago
Where do you live that the majority of domestic gardens are used primarily to grow food?
- WithinReason 2y ago
  Isn't that common around the world?
  - beedeebeedee 2y ago
    Not in the US
  - dylan604 2y ago
    First, we need to come to a universal understanding of the term "garden". What the UK understands as garden would be considered the back yard in the US. Some people in the US choose to have a garden in their back yard while others do not. So for purposes of discussion, let's call garden the spot where you are actually growing plants for food as opposed to a flower garden. Is that common with the stated definition? In the US, it is not especially if you add sustaining levels of production vs just hobby level
    - helboi4 2y ago
      Is that actually how people use the word garden outside the uk?
      - dylan604 2y ago
        In the US, garden is the area of the yard that grows plants. It is typically a small portion of the yard. The yard is pretty much any open space of the owner's parcel of land not containing the house or other structures. Also commonly used terms are "flower beds" or "plant beds". These are typically for ornamental plants vs food. Most people would consider a garden to primarily be for food plants. For example, the Great British Bake-off has the tent in the garden. But no red blooded 'murican would consider that expanse of manicured grass as a garden.
    - cnity 2y ago
      Yeah possibly poor choice of words for an international audience. For non-brits, imagine I just said "additional, nature-y non-covered area of your place of residence".
  - cnity 2y ago
    It is in Scotland... if you are an 18th century crofter.
- octocop 2y ago
  It's pretty common on earth that people grow food in proximity to their home and where the soil is fertile. It just takes an american to make it into an "Aha" moment, hence the snarky remark about fish and ocean. But there you go.
commandlinefan 2y ago
lol, I've been growing food-bearing plants in my backyard for about 10 years now. I plant jalapenos, tomatoes, bell peppers, watermelons, squash, zuchini, strawberries, eggplant and cantaloupe. I've grown maybe the equivalent of $100 worth of fruits and vegetables in that time. If I'm lucky I'll get three watermelons in a year. It's interesting to see and fun to do, but there's no way that planting vegetable plants is going to sustain you to any level on a typical lot.
- okaram 2y ago
  Definitely not, but having fresh herbs veggies available is amazing. With herbs, I think it can be cheaper than buying them at the store (we normally waste tons of herbs if we buy at the store). With peppers and tomatoes, they just taste better :) This year we may do squashes and eggplants ...
  - commandlinefan 2y ago
    > having fresh herbs That's true - there's nothing in the world that tastes like fresh-cut cilantro (definitely not day old cilantro). Unfortunately, it takes a lot of work to keep a cilantro plant from bolting.
    - mbg721 2y ago
      I'm amazed that anyone pays supermarket prices for fresh mint. You can't stop it from spreading, it's essentially a weed.
- batch12 2y ago
  We do this too. For me the garden has also been a gateway into preserving. This year, I put up enough tomatoes to last the year. It's not always cheaper than buying the cheap alternative from the store, but the quality difference between something home grown and store bought is huge. In addition to the items you've listed, I'd add grapes/ muscadines, passionfruit (grows wild so cheating), fruit and nut trees (figs are easy if you keep them pruned), berries, tea, lettuce/greens, celery, potatoes, carrots, herbs. I used to hate gardening, but it's grown on me over the last few years. The only thing I don't like growing is squash really.

cnity 2y ago

Where do you live that the majority of domestic gardens are used primarily to grow food?

WithinReason 2y ago
Isn't that common around the world?
- beedeebeedee 2y ago
  Not in the US
- dylan604 2y ago
  First, we need to come to a universal understanding of the term "garden". What the UK understands as garden would be considered the back yard in the US. Some people in the US choose to have a garden in their back yard while others do not. So for purposes of discussion, let's call garden the spot where you are actually growing plants for food as opposed to a flower garden. Is that common with the stated definition? In the US, it is not especially if you add sustaining levels of production vs just hobby level
  - helboi4 2y ago
    Is that actually how people use the word garden outside the uk?
    - dylan604 2y ago
      In the US, garden is the area of the yard that grows plants. It is typically a small portion of the yard. The yard is pretty much any open space of the owner's parcel of land not containing the house or other structures. Also commonly used terms are "flower beds" or "plant beds". These are typically for ornamental plants vs food. Most people would consider a garden to primarily be for food plants. For example, the Great British Bake-off has the tent in the garden. But no red blooded 'murican would consider that expanse of manicured grass as a garden.
  - cnity 2y ago
    Yeah possibly poor choice of words for an international audience. For non-brits, imagine I just said "additional, nature-y non-covered area of your place of residence".
- cnity 2y ago
  It is in Scotland... if you are an 18th century crofter.
octocop 2y ago
It's pretty common on earth that people grow food in proximity to their home and where the soil is fertile. It just takes an american to make it into an "Aha" moment, hence the snarky remark about fish and ocean. But there you go.

commandlinefan 2y ago

lol, I've been growing food-bearing plants in my backyard for about 10 years now. I plant jalapenos, tomatoes, bell peppers, watermelons, squash, zuchini, strawberries, eggplant and cantaloupe. I've grown maybe the equivalent of $100 worth of fruits and vegetables in that time. If I'm lucky I'll get three watermelons in a year. It's interesting to see and fun to do, but there's no way that planting vegetable plants is going to sustain you to any level on a typical lot.

okaram 2y ago
Definitely not, but having fresh herbs veggies available is amazing. With herbs, I think it can be cheaper than buying them at the store (we normally waste tons of herbs if we buy at the store). With peppers and tomatoes, they just taste better :) This year we may do squashes and eggplants ...
- commandlinefan 2y ago
  > having fresh herbs That's true - there's nothing in the world that tastes like fresh-cut cilantro (definitely not day old cilantro). Unfortunately, it takes a lot of work to keep a cilantro plant from bolting.
  - mbg721 2y ago
    I'm amazed that anyone pays supermarket prices for fresh mint. You can't stop it from spreading, it's essentially a weed.
batch12 2y ago
We do this too. For me the garden has also been a gateway into preserving. This year, I put up enough tomatoes to last the year. It's not always cheaper than buying the cheap alternative from the store, but the quality difference between something home grown and store bought is huge. In addition to the items you've listed, I'd add grapes/ muscadines, passionfruit (grows wild so cheating), fruit and nut trees (figs are easy if you keep them pruned), berries, tea, lettuce/greens, celery, potatoes, carrots, herbs. I used to hate gardening, but it's grown on me over the last few years. The only thing I don't like growing is squash really.