the Employee Mindset

[digitS']

Maybe @marshallsmyth can comment because I remember he has said somethings about good employees.

I was helping a friend with just a few minutes of garden work. It isn't the first time. For some reason, I show up and then confine myself to a space to pull some weeds. They are rampant, as usual.

He has dug up another small area. I was thinking that he must have really felt he had some time to have been so vigorously attacking the weeds in that one area - about 10% of his garden.

Elsewhere, he has just made a weeding gesture, scratching thru, leaving a good share of very nasty weed species. I'm talking about bindweed and quackgrass and others. Everywhere, they will be back.

There is plenty of weed seed throughout his garden even if he digs down 10" in that one small area and finds every root. I doubt if he can do that and, if past performance is an indicator, he may do no more weeding this year.

Then, I realize that is what I'm doing for him. It isn't my garden. I'm not going to clear all the roots in every direction and I may not be back again this year. We are both just making a gesture without getting serious about the sustained effort required.

I told him again what I'd do and have done. It would not be a great deal of work but would mean that much of the garden wouldn't produce anything this year. A property owner's decision, not a volunteer's. . . and, I realized that neither of us were behaving like we were investing in this garden. We were acting for other reasons, meaningful, I suppose. But, we weren't committed beyond a gesture.

Steve

 

[so lucky]

I think if we only spent time involved in things we are totally committed to, we would be doing a lot fewer things, but with much better results. If I spent as much time in my garden as I do on the computer, I would have a magnificent garden.

However, some wise person said we do spend our time on the things we are truly committed to, regardless of what we think we are committed to.

So I guess I am committed to wasting time on the computer.

 

[Carol Dee]

I think if we only spent time involved in things we are totally committed to, we would be doing a lot fewer things, but with much better results. If I spent as much time in my garden as I do on the computer, I would have a magnificent garden.

However, some wise person said we do spend our time on the things we are truly committed to, regardless of what we think we are committed to.

So I guess I am committed to wasting time on the computer.

me too So Lucky!

 

[digitS']

So Lucky, I thought about putting this on the "Burned Out" thread.

The investment may not be in work. I would take at least one-half of the friend's garden out of production this year. By Autumn, it will not have produced one-tenth of what it could have, without so many weeds, anyway.

He can bring it all back as a garden over the next few years if he chooses to do so.

Throwing all the effort at it must be a little disappointing if he is doing it for vegetables and fruit. My guess is that he isn't really thinking it through and he enjoys some exercise and fresh air. That might well be enough.

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

Steve, I was thinking more about the journey than the end results. Like you said, you both get exercise and fresh air, and perhaps get to spend time together? But again, I guess you both could also get this by sitting on a bench under a tree?

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

It would be nice if people wanted to commit to growing things. But not everybody wants to be a gardener. And that fact is what keeps my head above water.

 

[digitS']

Jogging must be focused on the journey. I imagine that runners like what they see in the mirror, if they stay with it.

I used to spend quite a bit of time in the sandbox. It was where my best school friends and I would hang out. Still, maybe I just don't appreciate playing in the dirt enuf.

Everybody eats!

Personally, I'm going out now to mix some "dirt" for some larger pots. I used up the easily available stuff for the 3 stay-at-home tomato plants yesterday.

Steve

 

[897tgigvib]

Wellp, I don't know.

I think maybe for the weeds which are that bad, if no propane torch is available, maybe one can be rented.

It would not get all the weed seeds, and would not get all the roots, but it would fix the weeds back for awhile.

I think your friend could use a propane torch, the kind with an 8 foot hose that connects to a 3 or 5 gallon propane can. Purchasing one would be much better than renting one.

And then, using it every week or so on the weeds, a regular weekly routine.

 

[digitS']

Hey, I've got a torch! Maybe, I should suggest it to him. Sure. We always end up talking about weeds whenever I visit his garden.

I've told this story before about my one use of that old torch. I showed up near sundown in, what was then, my big veggie garden. It was entirely in beds and paths and I just thought I'd save the tiller from trying to cut thru those compacted paths.

I'd met the guy who lived there but never even seen the neighbor lady. This might have been my first year in that garden.

I fired up the flamethrower and she suddenly appeared on their back deck. As I'm moving around the garden, she is pacing to and fro, fro and to! Kinda in a state of serious agitation!

I guess she was afraid that I would set fire to their little, unused horse paddock beside the garden! Only time I used it - decided that it wasn't the best thing for neighbor relations. I did begin to see her on a regular basis, out there mowing.

Steve
who, honestly, isn't really an enemy of weeds. i've had them home for dinner on many an occasion!

 

[journey11]

I'm on 100% all out war against weeds this year. If I haven't mulched it right after planting, then I'm not moving on to planting anything else!

I don't have a lot of time anymore to dedicate to pulling weeds (as much as I actually enjoy pulling a few, because it is relaxing to me), so my plan is to prevent them as much as possible with cardboard, newspaper, straw and some wider rows that the tiller will fit down. I had DH pick up 5 bales of straw for me so far. I'll probably need a few more. I'm tossing them to the chickens first to pick out the seeds too.

I've got DH committed to using the bagger on the mower when he's anywhere near my flowers or garden. A lot of my grass problems are from grass seed getting blown into my garden.

It's sooooo disappointing to put so much work into the garden, only to lose your grip on it as the season wears on and suddenly you're overcome by weeds (and the bad buggies they harbor). I hope your friend will heed your advice! No point in growing it if you're not going to take care of it, huh.