Tuesday 14 June 2016

Vegetables.

We have reluctantly decided to completely do away with the vegetable garden (apart from the raspberry canes).   The farmer has very bad shoulders and neck - too bad to be made any better by an operation; a typical farming injury after years of moving cows about, carrying hay, straw and silage - and general farm work.   Last year he found it hard to keep the garden going.

Also much of it (as you will see from the shadows) misses the warmth of the sun; it is a cold garden and can also be a damp garden.   We have never been able to grow winter vegetables in it.

We have an excellent market with very good stalls of vegetables and fruit, so a final decision was made by the farmer to grass it over.   He has a ride-on mower so can easily keep the grass mown.

For the last few weeks he has been gradually preparing the soil between the grass paths and today he decided the weather was just right for sowing the grass seed.   He did this before lunch and then after lunch he cleverly fastened the roller behind the ride-on mower and gave the whole garden a roll to (hopefully) settle the seed in nicely.   Rain is forecast for tomorrow so hopefully the grass will start to germinate quickly before the birds get it all!

Thought you might like to see the work in progress.

19 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

It is a shame that the farmer has arrived at this decision but growing vegetables does involve a lot of fairly strenuous work. I guess he is a realist and has weighed things up sensibly before deciding to grass the vegetable plot over. To every time there is a season.

Derek Faulkner said...

Makes perfect sense Pat. I know that the weeding in my garden always plays up the arthritis in my neck and so where he is coming from. Vegetables from the garden are nice but with a good farm shop or market nearby, why bother.

Terry and Linda said...

Terry is like your farmer...it's starting to be very hard, physically! We so understand.

Linda

donna baker said...

I so understand. After more than 30 years of doing it all, I said no more a couple of years ago. I can buy everything except for the homegrown tomatoes. So what does hubby do, he runs a water line to the garden and plants it this year. It is funny, but his squash and potatoes have done well, though Im not sure anything else will come of it. And like the farmer, a cow came into contact with my hubby's nose and it is broken and scraped the length of it. Pudding said it best, there is a season and our's has past.

Tom Stephenson said...

About 45 years of picking up stone and marble has had the same effect on my vegetable garden too, Weave.

Rachel Phillips said...

Farmers are sensible people.

Mac n' Janet said...

Sad to lose the garden, but health and comfort come first.

angryparsnip said...

After last year no more trying for a garden. I have a tomatoes and and some herbs and flowers.
Just enough for me to care for.
Love The Farmer's tractor.

cheers, parsnip and thehamish

jinxxxygirl said...

I know how hard it can be to let a garden go Pat. My Grandpa kept his up probably far longer than he should have. But it brought him such joy. He had arthritis very bad. He had a huge garden up North in New Jersey for years then they moved to Florida to help with his arthritis (warmer) then he had two HUGE gardens there... I can remember him walking with two canes to the edge of the garden... drop the canes and pick up the hoe. He would hoe and work two rows in the morning and two rows in the evening every day. I suppose maybe it kept him moving longer than he otherwise would have... It was a very sad time indeed when we let the grass grow over the gardens... Hugs! deb

Barbara said...

I'm sure it was a difficult decision, although made somewhat easier by knowing you have a good Market to depend upon.
Speaking of Markets...if you're ever in the States, I know a Market you can visit! :)

Joanne Noragon said...

As long as you still have raspberries, all is well.

Terra said...

Things change as we age. This spring I have changed from an in ground vegetable patch to a very large planter, perhaps four feet by four feet. Perhaps that option would work for you.

Cro Magnon said...

I dread the day I'll need to consider doing the same. A few years off I hope.

Librarian said...

One day, probably in the not too far off future, my parents will have to give up the allotment - or at least change some of it from vegetable growing to grass. Most of the work is done by my Dad, and he loves it as much as he needs it; we are all cnvinced that the garden was crucial for his surviving the stroke he suffered a bit more than 10 years ago. But he is not a healthy man now, and has gradually been slowed down by various ailments and conditions for years. The day he'll have to stop driving (which is essential to get to the allotment) will be the beginning of the end for him.

With all the work your husband still does, I am sure he won't miss the garden! And as you say, you can buy locally grown fresh veg and support other people's small businesses that way, too.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Quite right Yorkshire Pudding. The words 'realist' and 'Yorkshire Farmer' usually come together in the same sentence!
Thanks for the sympathy - I know he has made the right decision and frankly it is difficult to tast the difference between peas frozen and bought at the supermarket and those frozen by me and put in my freezer.

Heather said...

A sensible decision. Gardening of any sort should be a pleasure, but when it becomes hard work and a chore it's time to reorganise. At least you have access to fresh local grown vegs in your market and your bodies have had the benefit of all those years of homegrown ones. I have only managed to grow a few broad bean plants in a large tub this year. The rest of the garden has taken all my spare time and energy but I think I am winning. There are still a couple of murky corners to be sorted out, not to mention keeping the parts I have cleared from reverting to weeds once more.

Doc said...

We love our farmers markets and everything is so inexpensive that we only grow tomatoes these days.

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Grow inside or in window boxes. Bet there's loads of veg you can do. I've got to get my mustard and cress on.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

It is always sad when we have to give up one more thing - but then there is the pretty lawn you will enjoy in the summer. I gave up vegetable gardening several years ago - some because of my back - some because the deer thought I planted it all for them. We have lots of farm stands and farmer's markets to get wonderful fresh organic vegetables from - so we still eat well on the summer bounty.