One last look: My greatest gardening achievement in 2014 was

Ripped weeds, chased pigs & chickens, cleared land & planted more trees.

"Other". Can't say as I had a gardening achievement, except that I have finally admitted to myself that I am no longer physically able to do any real gardening. This was a very hard thing to admit to! But I did try to grow more in pots, but that, too, came to an end in August of 2014, when a severe gout attack made walking all but impossible for me. We were in an extremely hot and dry period at the time, and many of my potted plants just couldn't survive the heat and drought. I plan on trying again this year, though. Hopefully things will go better!

Vern

I found a couple of gals that really knew what they were doing as far as weeding went. I had the cleanest gardens in years. A few pics for you.

Had help!

Wow Bernie! I'm jealous!!!

Surviving being poisoned by Organophosphate in the garden. Scared me and I didn't think I was going to make it with my heart and lungs barely able to keep up and leg muscles twitching randomly. I wish the garden poisoning would end but it doesn't seem to have an end in sight so I guess I'll do far less gardening at my home. I made it thought, barely.

Hey Growin,

How are you feeling now?

Is there anything we can do to help?

Well there are some long-term affects such as decreased eyesight, lack of mobility, and the psychiatric injury associated, just helpin me get back into plants, ID in a safe, non-judgemental environment is probably key. I love gardening and plants but I can honestly say, after cleaning up the front garden, the poisoning last year really scared me. Just getting through it was an achievement. I had never put the garden cleanup and collapsing and hospitalization together as there is a delay of a few weeks. I just want to get on with life.

Hey Growin,

I wish I was in your neighborhood. I got nothing but hands & feet.

My heart goes out to you.

Hopefully someone at DG is in your area and can lend a hand.

A hui hou, Dave

Planted a vegetable garden again (spring, summer, and fall) for the 1st time since my injury almost a decade ago! In the process, I also got a major portion of the backyard growth cleared, but my major achievement was finally getting a garden going again. The tomatoes, cukes, arugula, kale, and other garden fresh produce was awesome!

Growin,
How did you get exposed to it? Glad you made it through, it sounds pretty scary!
I managed to grow succulents in the ground. I've tried before, but our ground water is only about 2' down, so when it rained a lot, they tneded to get root rot.
I raised up and area with sand, garden soil and pebbles. So far so good. It's been a rainy Winter so far. I checked them the other day by tugging on them and they are all firm in the ground, so the roots are happy! Yea!!
Here are pictures of them: Agave 'Cornelius' and Agave univittata.
Now that I know this works, I'm gonna get more!
Barb

I have wondered over the past months where you had gone. So glad you lived to tell the tale and are back.
Do take care of yourself!

growin,

I, too, am very happy that you are well enough to return. I don't mean to pry, but as it may help others of us to avoid the same mistake, can you tell us more about how you were exposed to the poison(s), if you know? You mentioned that you were doing cleanup before your collapse and ultimate hospitalization, does that mean that you absorbed the poison during the cleanup process? Again, I'm only asking because I would like to avoid a similar fate. I'm very, very glad that you are doing better now.

Although this is off-topic, my front garden has been sprayed several times. I never could put the collapsing a month or so after together with the cleanup of the garden after spraying. From what I've been able to tell it is Organophosphate Induced Delayed Nueropathy which renders me unable to walk and often collapsing. The Organophosphate Herbicide or mix is sprayed in the middle of the night by the perpetrator, the soft material wilts and dies within hours (Impatiens, Monarda, etc). I had cleaned up the dead material after a month, thinking the watering had washed it away. This time I had an acute phase. I guess the lesson to pass on to all of you, if you see plants in large swaths dieing quickly, turning yellow and melting, don't touch it. Use rubber gloves and a great deal of caution. At the same time as the spraying, my dog was poisoned and vomiting blood on the lawn barely able to stand. The police, city, etc won't do anything as it needs to be an, "observable offence" so the they need to see them in the middle of the act. As this was my 4th time getting hit, it'll likely be done this year. I'm a bit more cautious this time round though. I thought I was toast but I made it. It was an achievement to get through it.

I got all the grass pulled out from my small front yard. Planted lots of daylilies and hostas. Enjoyed the summer being in the yard. Can not wait for summer.

growin,

Thank you for that information. It's very good cautionary info for all of us. Have you considered setting up some kind of camera system to get either video or still photos of the perpetrator? Since it sounds like this has happened more than once, it is something you might want to think about. There are numerous options ranging from surveillance video and webcams to something as simple and relatively inexpensive as a well placed trail cam or two. The latter, while only producing still shots, can usually be acquired for under $100 and requires no tech knowledge. (My sister got some excellent quality shots of an entire herd of deer on a cheap trail cam, so it should be adequate to get a decent likeness of a human or two.)

Of course, the size of your yard may be an issue; I'm thinking in terms of my relatively small, city lot. Still, should the perpetrator(s) return, some sort of motion activated camera/video might just be what you need to turn this into an "observable offense" after all. Just a thought. Best wishes for a full recovery; sometimes these things just take time.

"other" my Japanese Scholar tree [grew from seed] bloomed and made seedpods for the 1st time.

Planted fruit trees, still trying to reclaim seriously out of control grape vines.

Growin,

I'm glad that you overcame the exposure!!! Take care of yourself!!!

Are you saying someone came by and sprayed something on your plants and when you went to clean them up, you got sick.

What is this world coming to? CRAZY!!!

I agree, I would have to set up a camera also!!

Congrats Kim!!!