How deep are your roots?

Moved in here in June 2004. Aug 2006 has 13 flower gardens and one pond. I'm making it mine.

1 year away from voting a catagory higher.
Moved in April of 1982.
5 acres of vegetables, 5 greenhouses, tons of flowers,
& hosting a Round Up on Sept. 16, 2006.
All are welcome!
Bernie

In the same town for 24 years. In the same house, 9 years. Depends on what you mean by :"place". But we still don't have all the boxes unpacked! I promised to clean out the garage when I retired, but have done very little toward it.
One thing that makes me think we will stay is that I finally have enough room for both flowers and vegetables. Also my husband loves his job here and my elderly mother-in-law lives here.
On the side of moving in the distant future is that I have a beautiful farm with a lake in Mississippi and don't get there often enough for my taste.

I've been in the same city for 27 years, in this house for exactly 20 years this month.
This house lot was appealing because it was 1/3 acre (large for a city lot) and the house would face south with a small street frontage and a well.
Andy P

Moved here about 3 years ago. 6 flowerbeds, a gravel bed for alpines, and the greenhouse is under construction. Most of the property is covered in new woodland, growing on derelict pasture and around fishponds, and we plan to leave it in a natural state for the enjoyment of wild animals, birds, and insects. However, I will be putting in more flowerbeds near the house, because I don't know how to stop buying plants.

Same house same husband for 46 years. We were surrounded by orange groves when we first moved here. Now - not an orange tree around. Sad.

Dh Has lived in this town for 44 years.. I have lived here for 19. We are in the midst of deciding now whether we want to stay here for the long haul or make a move to a place that fits my dream of being near the ocean. Don't know if it's DH dream or not, not sure he has a dream location but I know he enjoys the ocean.. but we are discussing.

I guess I PERSONALLY haven't lived here 50 years, I'm only 46, but my family has lived in this town back when they called it "Lickskillet", my great-grandfather was one of the people that started the first bank. My great-great g/mother, great g/mother, g/mother, Mom, me, my children, and now 2 of my g/children call this home. As far as my DH and I, we haved lived on the same piece of property for a little over 18 of our 26 yrs. of marriage. I can remember being a kid and telling my mom "As SOON as I turn 18, I'm moving somewhere where the streets don't roll up at noon on Saturday".....she would always just smile and say, "Maybe, but you'll be back".....I guess she knew what she was talking about....

We've been here Since Jan. of 1975. Moved in a snowstorm. Talk about fun! Trying to see when on unknown roads. Oh sometimes to be young and fearless again. It's just been the last 5-6 yrs. that i've put in flowers. Before that i always had a vegie garden. We've had chickens,rabbits,pigs and beef. Tried a lot of things. I said no more. Had to haul water to everything. A real pain in the winter. To move would be hard. But someday it will have to happen. Nothing around us has changed. Still woods and fields and all you can see of the neighbors are yard lights.

Hmmm ... depends on how you look at it. I spent parts of 3 years in Arizona, and I've lived in Seattle, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Issaquah and now Shelton, but for all of my 43 years "home" has always been the PNW!

We both have lived in Ohio all our lives...and close to this town of New Madison for 19 years. We moved from Kettering..about an hour away..to buy a small farm...40 acres. Lived there for 10 yrs...then decided to downsize. Moved 3/4 miles up the road to a story and a half...thinking we were having an auction to rid ourselves of excess "things". Hubby is a collector. Had it all set up ..and he backed out! Said he couldn't part with his "things"! So now..we have a large pole barn, a large garage, two large sheds...and an 8 room house full of "things"!!!! LOL!!
But we also have 6 acres..5 in crops...and 1 in gardens.
Someday..I am sure we might have to move...as it is getting to be a lot to take care of ..but we are enjoying it while we can!

I've lived in western NY my whole life (57 yrs...ssssshhhhhh), but we've been in this home for 4 years. It's our dream home, built looking forward to retirement. We had it custom built and just today DH was looking and said to me 'you know, this is a pretty nice house'. I agreed.
In my garden software (3D Home Landscape) and in my head LOL, there are many gardens on our 3/4 acre overlooking a small manmade lake. on planet Earth, there is the basic foundation landscaping we had done when we moved in, a small rose & herb garden at the rear of the house, and spring '05 we put in a heather garden with dwarf conifers and a fairy garden for the hummingbirds & butterflies (and fairies). I'm working on a rockery next to the heather garden. Plans are in the works for a sizeable semi-formal rose garden for next spring adjacent to our in-ground pool. In the meantime, like every other gardener here, I'm adding plants and fussing at the existing ones :0))

Wasn't sure how to hedge this one, so I defined "here" as the area. I was born and raised in Beaumont, but I just did move to the next town north. So... more than 50 years and less than a year!

I'm an Army brat so moving doesn't bother me....we have lived here for almost 4 years and I can't wait to escape ahh I mean move...hope to be moving soon.

I have lived here in Arlington Texas in the same house 39 years and I love it.
I love my family, my friends, my home and yard, my church, my neighbors and this city, I wouldnt want to be anyplace else. I feel truly blessed.

We have been in the same house for 40 years now. I guess I'm dating myself! I was raised in Sacramento, and my husband was raised here in Felton, CA.

I've been in the same house for three years but am looking to move next summer to a place with a lot more land.

I moved to California 19 years ago today, but I have lived in this particular house for a little over 9 years. Man, how time flies!

The rest of my immediate family has lived in Westmoreland County, PA for generations.

This message was edited Aug 15, 2006 9:23 AM

I was born a stone's throw to the west and grew up a stone's throw to the east in the farmhouse. We moved into this house [new] in 1972.


diamondsjns: I have to laugh at the town name of Lickskillet. The closest burg around here was once called Slickskillet. The blacksmith bachelor kept his cookery so clean and hanging up

"same place", but not "same house". Born 10 miles from here but had to follow my parents all over while growing up. When 'emancipation' of sorts occurred I came back home, married and settled down in this house for the last 32 years. Would love a place with a couple acres, barn, woods and creek, but fate doesn't have that in store for us, darn it.

I've been in my present home since 2001 .. I moved here from Virginia, I was there for 2 years .. I moved to Virginia from England .. I was there 3 years, I moved to England from N. Central Florida and my 1st home, I was there almost 18 years.

This thread made me think of the gardens I had to leave.

My house in florida was antique roses. The people who bought the house were not gardeners so I didn't bother to tell them what they had roses wise. I grit my teeth, sighed, took one last sniff of Honorine de Brabant and never looked back.

My house in england was a bit of everything, there was a mini orchard, apple & plum, a traditional english garden with a bulb garden in the front with roses for anchors. It was a mature garden with well kept shrubbery and a giant deodar tree. There was a fox family that lived in the orchard with 2 kits. My kitty poppy who was just a baby used to play with the fox kits. I still ache for that garden.

My house in virginia had a huge yard, bigger than what i have now and having just come back to the states from england, I spent most of my time cleaning up and maintaining what garden was there it. It had crepe myrtle, lilac and lavatera and a yellow climbing rose with nothing to climb on so it ended up looking like a fountain of flowers. I made a few window boxes with calendula and morning glory and a walkway with marigolds along the side.

The garden I have now is and will ultimately be the realization of plans that have been rolling around in my head for a very long time. Each part will reflect elements from past gardens along with the new. It's at the toddler stage.

X

Well, we have lived in this house for 11 yrs. But I have lived in this town for all my life (almost)

We've been in this house for 4 years but have done much remodeling to make it ours -- still lots more to do but we hope to be here for a long time. We lived in our last home for 27 years and raised 3 children. That house had a very small yard and with two careers and 3 kids we had little time for gardening. Now that my husband has retired and we have one adult (more or less) son still with us, we have a bit over an acre for flowers and vegetables and pets.

We built this house only 3 years ago, but I have lived in the metro area almost 50 years now. Roots aren't neccessarily established under the structure one resides, but throughout the community in which one is nurtured and one contributes. Roots also evolve from relationships - with individuals, families, communities, and experiences.

Debra

This house since '87, but been in TX since '64 when Uncle Sam and USAF moved me out of college to San Antonio - except when the oil-patch hibernated - 2 years in Denver and 2 more in LA before returning to the Houston area. Not leaving again.

Moved here 4 years ago, lived in the house one year to see what we wanted to change, then moved into a one-bedroom apartment for a year while the house was gutted! It took another year to finish after I moved back in, and now it's been another year. Started the hardscape a year ago and it's not finished...grrrrrrr ...will it ever be finished??? I've planted 3 sides of the house...have 2 more areas to go....:)

I have lived here 23 years...and I don't ever want to move. I love it here.

I've lived in this house for about 18 years... I'mready to move out and on.. perhaps where I can get a bit of the ocean..whereI can walk to the beach..or build something on an ocean front lot..and haveagarden in the ground... where I don't have to move the tender plants inside every winter .. anyone looking for a NYC floor with a private roof garden space.. drop me a line...

We just moved here in February, 2005; spent last year fixing up the inside. This year I've been planting and tending nonstop since first thaw, trying to make it feel like home! Roots are critical....

We have only lived here for tree months, the most important thing was to get the garden started. There was only a bush when we moved in, but there is still much do to.

I've lived in New Haven county all but 2 years of my life in several different homes. Two years in Key West for a dramatic change of pace.

my family has been here since late 1700's, I've lived in this house for 5 years but the area all my life with the exception of 2 jaunts - one to North Carolina and one to Georgia, but those lasted less than 9 months total, loved those areas but they just weren't home :(

14 years ago my hubby's grandpa died leaving his house open. His son (my father-in-law) moved in there and offered us this house. I was for it and not for it. A dilimma. I lived in a double wide nice mobile home on 65 acreas, of which 35 was woods and we hunted there alot. Peace and quiet and calming. My parents owned and live there also. Now I have a HOUSE but only on 3/4 acrea. On a 5 lane highway, noisey and Airport a mile down the road. I am now use to backing out on the highway and all the noises. We completely gutted our Kitchen 3 years ago and have a gorgeous one now. My children are out on their own now. I love my house now and am getting the Gardens going. Hard to do with kids at home. They use all the money.. OH my goodnes I didnt know I had so much money. LOL Anyway the only plant that has been here some where between 6-9 yrs is my hosta and it is very happy where it is. I moved some of them last year. But this one will stay here for ever. I have decided to keep it there and work around it cuz it is alway so happy there.

Enjoyed the vote
Thank you
Beck

I went with what my heart told me, pretty deep. Although we've only lived in this house 1 1/2 years, I was born and raised in this town. Only moved away for 17 months, from July 03 to Dec 04. Like Dorothy says, "there's no place like home".

I've moved around a lot, although always in one state, Florida, until my recent move to Georgia. Apparently I've never reached "home" yet, because about three years into a place (if I'm there that long!), I'm itching to move again. My roots must be in the boxes I carry with me from house to house. But mine and DH goals are changing I think, because we want a place with more land. We both like older homes as they seem to have more character. Hopefully we'll make up our minds where we want to be when we grow up ;)

Forty-three years in Florida, which used to be nice, weather permitting. But now it's so overbuilt and crowded in most places. I was born there and I never got used to the heat or the hurricanes...LOL. I love the weather here in Georgia, but housing costs are through the roof! And while we enjoy the conveniences of being 'in-town', we really don't avail ourselves of them much. We're kind of boring homebodies. We've been looking at land all around the US (and even outside of it!) for something we can afford that will enable us to work and still "homestead" a bit - but after a year of trying a business on the savings I had from the sale of my home, and some major familial and financial setbacks, we're starting all over from scratch - having to rent for the first time in 20 years. So we have some challenges behind us and some in front of us. But G-d willing, we'll grow to overcome those and finally "settle" somewhere :) That darn money thing seems to be the big holdup, ya know?

I think this history qualifies me as a 'wandering vine'...lol!

-Sunny

We've lived in this house for 15 years but DH and I were born, raised and have always lived on Long Island.

I voted 5-10 years as we've been in this house since 1998. We've been in this little town of ±800 since I moved stateside in Jan. of 77. Guess that means our 30th anniversary is approaching, eh? Where did the years go??

My wife moved from Montreal to our condo in December. I came here in April. We went for a visit in Montreal in July and I had trouble re-entering the country. She's american, I'm canadian and the immigration officer really played around with the idea of turning me back before I boarded the plane. He finally allowed us to go through. I'm here with a 6-month visitor status. It's better than being an illegal alien.

Gail has petitionned INS so I can become a permanent resident. Should that be refused, we'll try Costa Rica or Curaçao. We can't go back to Canada because the 9-month winter there plays havock with Gail's advanced arthritis.

Stick around, kids... there may be a nice, little, affordable condo for sale soon in a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, with priority given to Dave's Garden's members. Should it come to that, we'll leave gracefully with death in our hearts.

Meanwhile, I plant stuff and watch it grow. Every day, when the mailman comes, I run down to see if INS wrote me back. Sometimes, I sing: "Mr. Postman, bring me a dream...". Roots, say you? We have tried hard to integrate Florida life. We've made friends. I've planted stuff but the outcome is far from certain.

Sylvain.

I've lived in a few states and several towns. I've rented apartments and duplexes. I was so happy to finally buy my own house last year but it's in a residential neighborhood so I'd never claim roots here. I won't truly be "home" until I can afford to live in the country and be a steward over the land.