I know this isn't related to game development in anyway, unless you're a FarmVille fan. Its nice to see something else I've invested my time into pay off. I built a garden. If you're interested, check out my Google+ profile for more details. I think I've linked it with my Gamedev.net profile. Here's some picture of what I pulled tonight. Do any of you guys have gardens?
Well, have no garden noticeable but as I worked on a climate room for seed testing, I actually consider vertical farming sometime.
I made the mistake of planting an entire package of zucchini seed in my 4'x8' raised bed. I have gotten so sick of zucchini this summer :-)
As much as I love "greenies", and the thought of planting stuff in your back garden does sound attractive, practically, for me its too much hard work (for very little benefit) to be a hobby
Unless, of course its on a larger scale - but then its no longer a hobby! :lol:
It can be worth it. For my family, a bunch of tomato plants are the main crop. Every year it means bottling 150-200 quart jars of tomatoes. It is a bunch of work, but they are far more delicious than store bought. The bottles are in food storage for about a year and still taste amazing. We've had others, but tomatoes are the biggest crop. My parent's back yard also had a bunch of fruit trees, peaches, pears, plum, and cherry, with a strawberry patch and even a grape vine. I grew up with those begin bottled as well.
Having all the bottles of tomatoes makes it easy for food prep. All kinds of sauces, soups, and stews require tomatoes, so most dinners for everything from lasagna to chili involve bringing out a bottle or two. Deserts are as simple as a grabbing a bottle of peaches or pears, and we always have a stock of jams and jellies.
This year was the first time in my life we didn't have a garden because we needed to move. Our shelves have been switching from full jars to empty jars, and the grocery bill has been slowly increasing to compensate.
i have a rock garden. its pretty low maintenance. clear out the leaves once in a while (its in old growth forest, the small trees are 100+ feet tall). a triangle, about 25 feet on a side, black dirt with little islands of moss, with a mini-monolith stone, driftwood, and some sort of plant (fern, mini cedar, birch saplings, etc) on each island. it has a small campfire pit surrounded by a ring of stones, and a number of mini-cairns spread about. the moss has spread over the cleared dirt so much i had to add stepping stones. a nice place to putter about and do some gardening when you feel the need to get out of doors for a while, and a nice place to chill, alone or with friends.
When the kids came, I let my garden grow over. This spring I dug back up about a square meter or so of dirt and had the kids help me plant some carrots, radishes, and lettuce. Unfortunately I didn't pay it much attention over the summer and it didn't really yield very much but the kids got a kick out of harvesting the carrots last weekend.
Oh man those look good! So, I've got plants in a grow room down stairs. I totally understand the problem with zucchinis. I had pumpkin in a 5 gallon bucket and they kept drinking water like it was going out style. It gets expensive on the hydroponic nutrients when your plants drink 5 gallons of water in 2 or 3 days. I'm thinking about keep just some exotic peppers under hydroponics all year round so I can have fun with them. But mainly, the grow room is the std::boost for the garden. When I tried hardening the peppers up they didn't take to well. Eventually the did fine. Now they are huge and I want to save them, but I'll most likely save as many seeds as I can and restart next season. My Jalapenos were full grown and giving me peppers by the time they went out side. That might be why they didn't adjust to well. I'm still learning. I'm a little scared of the scotch bonnets. I hope to keep lettuce, potatoes and carrots all year too. I spent like $400 on grow T5 lights. I wish I would have waited and bought LEDs because I noticed Avista gave me a nice little $100 increase on the power bill!
