Why do I do this? It takes a lot of time to take and post pictures and update blogs and websites. Gardeners are in general a different breed of people and enjoy sharing. Sure, it would be nice to have recognition and make money, but I do not distract with watermarks and paid ad options or limit with copyrights. Why? For one, gardening sites that do are a turn off to me, especially ones that start off free, rely on user input, then start charging a subscription fee. Besides, if someone wants to steal my work, they are going to regardless. A bigger reason? You do not have to look far or pay a fee to find negativity and ugliness in one form or another that depresses, angers or encourages disrespect. I want to make a difference.
Look at a picture of a beautiful flower or garden and feel the happiness come over you. Walk through an overflowing garden and feel the tranquility it brings. Smell a rose and become intoxicated by its fragrance. Bite into a garden fresh piece of produce and feel the delight of the flavor. Dig your hands into beautiful soil and feel the connection with Earth and All That Is. Watch a seed sprout and you have witnessed a miracle. The garden is a wondrous place and I want to help bring its joys to the world by inspiring and educating.
"I've waited in the sun and listened to every one of the questions that you posed
and I have found the answers in the petals of a rose."
(from "Show Me The Way," sung by Liam Clancy)
I so understand what you mean about gardeners being a "different breed!" I've been doing it for about six years now, and it brings me so much joy that I didn't know was even possible before I started. Winter is torture for me now as I wait! I simply love knowing where my food comes from and biting into something that is infinitely more delicious than anything you could find in a store-- and that I GREW!!
ReplyDeleteI love this quote from Joel Salatin: "Almost everyone has eaten a backyard tomato. You know the kind. When you slice into it juice runs down the knife and pools up on the cutting board. The structural webbing glistens iridescently, standing out from the delicate seed-juice innards. Do you know what that tomato would look like if you put it on a tractor trailer for a week and sent it 3,000 miles? It would be a flattened glob of pulp." (Source: http://goodsweetearth.com/2013/03/20/gardening-why-do-we-bother/)
That really shows me that we as gardeners are doing something right. We're producing GOOD FOOD, not just crap that ships well.
Cheers,
Jassa
So true! With GMOs and radiating produce, it's getting worse. I just told my fiance not to buy any more of the tomatoes he had been getting because they were so horrible. Other than in looks they were nothing like a tomato. The same with peaches. They look beautiful, but never ripen. My rule for buying produce is, whether it is ripe or not, if it does not smell like it should (peach, strawberry, etc.) it will not have the flavor even if it does ripen.
DeleteYours is the nicest gardening website I've ever encountered.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your beautiful photos and expertise.
Thank you so very much! That is the nicest compliment I could ever get.
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