http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/for-the-home/the-new-price-of-gardening-1304618040704/
I read this in my doctor's office the other day and was astounded. If it cost me this much to garden, I couldn't do it.
What say you all?
Martha
New Price of Gardening-Smart Money magazine
That's crazy!
I( don't have any hi-tech gadgets, but with the cost of new plants, bulbs, fertilizer, mulch, tags, insecticide, I can see I'm getting up there in price....add in fence repair & painting, trellises, & mowing the lawn....well, it's expensive.
There always seems to be one more thing....
Pam
Crazy coffee lady - haha. One year I literally mulched my garden with coffee grounds from Starbucks.
"...to sensors that send a Twitter message to gardeners when a plant is thirsty..."
Are they serious?!
Well, this doesn't fit my gardening style. I'm too cheap, lol! I wait a few years for new introductions to come down in price, winter sow most of my stuff from seed, gets lots of free stuff (cinderblocks, wood chips, old watering cans) off freecycle, and usually mulch just with shredded leaves, which I shred myself.
I'm sure I spend more money than I think I do on seed, tubers, bulbs, potting mix, etc., but nowhere near some of the amounts mentioned in that article.
What's kind of sad is the new gardeners who literally buy into this hype. Most likely, not only do they buy all the gadgets they really don't need, but they often buy plants that won't work well in their garden. Then they give up because they think gardening is too hard or they're not good gardeners.
Dee
They have sensors that tweet when a pet goes in or out a pet door. So I guess a plant could tweet. As boring as that all sounds - there is a squirrel on Twitter that has a HUGE following that tweets things like run, run, run and eat . . . OK, it IS boring.
Twitter is not for everyone and every life form: a cat (Sockington) has 1 million ++ followers. But in its defense, I personally know of 3 suicides that have been averted due to posted tweets being taken seriously by the local authorities.
Every Thursday, among the tweeting pet set, a virtual (paw)party is run that raises money for pet related causes. It has been going on for a year now and runs for 24 hours with virtual DJs setting up a play list and virtual bar(k)tenders providing virtual signature drinks and food. There is even a virtual animal band (the Shibering Cheetos) that provides virtually live music. The pawpawtys have themes and twitter avatars get "dressed" up for the occasion. It is definitely virtual fun!
I have a great name for a book about culture, society and Twitter that I will never write - too many plants need tending and cats need petting - the name would be "Even Dead Cats Tweet" - and they do.
Wallingford insists that I put in a plug for his twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/AYankeeCat - believe me the squirrel is waaaay more interesting!
Thanks for the 'heads up', Memory.....
Just laid out some cash for 12 bags of topsoil {#1 son is repairing and reseeding the lawn} and some annuals, though I don't buy too many of those any more. These are for my baskets that hang on the chain link fence and the containers for the steps to the deck. Plants or gadgets? Plants, no contest! I have a shovel, a trowel, a hose and a watering wand that all work just fine. I am in business!
Martha
The bulk of my money goes to plants as well.....