Hang in there Brandy.  They may not be as enlightened as you are and many may have a huge debt load.

You will be the envy of the neighbourhood with your locally grown (backyard) vegetables.

Its not the age of your vehicle that matters, its how well maintained it is :-)

Dot

onequarterdal:

They may not be as enlightened as you are and many may have a huge debt load.

Most of my neighbors are two income families and pretty much middle class by today's standards.. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to discover many of them do have debts for the things they have. We are a one income family on the bottom thread of middle income level (I think). We pay cash for what we have.

Lifestyle wise, we likely would have been better suited with a home outside of town where self sufficient activities are more common. But then we would have faced other issues.

onequarterdal:

You will be the envy of the neighbourhood with your locally grown (backyard) vegetables.

If I could ever get any to grow! I have struck again and everything I planted is dead. I really need to get my husband on board with this, he can plant and keep things alive, he just doesn't have the time for it.

As for the vehicles, if we keep them long enough, they will become classics. Everyone will think we are really cool for having one and want one as well. Heeeheheh.

Brandy:

If I could ever get any to grow! I have struck again and everything I planted is dead. I really need to get my husband on board with this, he can plant and keep things alive, he just doesn't have the time for it.

You might want to just start with a small container garden, like a couple of tomato plants or bean plants in a large patio pot.  Do you use your local soil or make your own compost soil?   Do you try to grow from seed or plants?  Plants can be pricey, but if you start your seeds indoors and hardy them up its not too expensive.  You can use small yoghurt containers etc. 

I have much luck with our soil growing cucumbers, tomatoes and beans but zero luck with things like carrots and radishes.  I'll be trying them again now that I use the square foot philosophy.  www.squarefoodgardening.com   

I tried growing beans from some pretty old seed packages this year and only three plants came up.  So, its a learning curve.

I planted seed potatoes this year, hopefully they turn out.  I love new potatoes.

Dot 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're lucky in our area its quite a mix of two income, single income, retired, young couples with kids, double incomes with no kids.  Some professional white collar, some blue collar, some single moms.  Its quite a mix.

Its very traditional in our hamlet to hang clothes out, drive older vehicles etc.   Our vehicles are a 2004 and a 2001.

I'd have a problem existing in a middle class two income neighbourhood

Dot,

I have tried many things over the years. The only success I have had was with roses, canna lillies, ferns and aloe vera plants.

Hi Brandy,

I'm sorry to hear that.

Have you ever  tried using the three way soil mix from the squarefootgarden website?  1/3 blended compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite.

He advises not to use the current soil, but lay landscaping cloth or another type of deterrent and put the blend on top.  My husband loved the plans off his website, because it meant he'd never have to help weed or rototil the garden.  He just built me my 4' x 4' boxes and left me to it.

onequarterdal:

My husband loved the plans off his website, because it meant he'd never have to help weed or rototil the garden.

LOL!

I have not tried any of the square foot gardening or the tips soil mix from it. That might be something to consider.

Its a very "stretchy" website because you don't have to buy his book, he gives you the plans and instructions.  He gives suggestions on how to make your 12'x12' squares within the 4'x4' containers with things like recycled venetian blinds etc.  

Its also "stretchy" because you get instructions on how many seeds to plant etc. 

We were out running errands this past spring, and saw a sign for rototilers on sale...my husband started to turn in to check out the sale and then proceeded to have a broad grin because he remembered with container veggie gardens, no more rototiling!   The rototiler we had was an ancient, stubbon hand-me-down.   If we hadn't discovered the website, we were considering the $900 for a new one.  Glad we didn't, I like the veggie container gardening philosophy.

We are having a wonderful strong summer rainshower right now.   Now that we have a garden that I hand water using rainwater from our evestroughs, I never complain about the rain.

I can't wait for my first beefsteak tomato sandwich.  Yum. 

Dot

Dot,

I can definitely forget getting rototilling done, we struggle to keep up with grass cutting.

Brandy said :"Most of my neighbors are two income families and pretty much middle class by today's standards.. "

I grew up in a neighborhood like this. Guess which house we hung out at?  That's right--Brandy's (okay her name was Mrs. Robison)  And I remember Momma and the mother of the twins across the street would always send cookies, pb&j, chips and soda with us to their house to "help out".  There was a group of 6 of us about the same age and then a group of two about 6 years younger.  I never realized they were less well off until years later!

 Brandy also said:As for the vehicles, if we keep them long enough, they will become classics. Everyone will think we are really cool for having one and want one as well.

Remember I bought my scooter 3 years ago and everyone laughed at me!  Look who's laughing at the gas pump now!!

re-tired