Gardening

[Poker Alice]

Do some members of the west game like gardening this time of year? I don’t consider myself a gardener as I tend to just stick things into the ground and pray everything goes well. Like playing this western game I don’t wish to be an expert but simply enjoy the time I have on this earth. I have a very small garden growing a selection of flowers and some eatable planets.

It is always nice to grab a fresh tomato or cucumber out of the garden eat it there on the spot or place it in-between two pieces of bread. What gardening does for me besides allowing me to spend quality time outdoors in hobby mode is a little nature trekking.

This has lead me to consider just how important our topsoil is. There is really only a small layer of it that circles the globe and is unlike the planet Mars which contains higher acidic toxins of heavy metals in it. We are fortunate as a species to be able to get life giving nourishment right out of the ground.

I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes because I do see the value of having beautiful lawns around town. Some people will go to great lengths to maintain these beauties including spraying with dangerous chemicals. Just don’t eat the grass?

My lawn does have grasses but also a variety of other plants. Some of these plants have pretty little purple flowers many people call weeds. But are they weeds? The dandy lion for example could be argued to be weed because of its long root system. Generally, I think if a lawn is secure and thick with grasses the odd dandelion will not be an issue for it. They do like all plants tend to fight for their existence but as nature explains to us there is a place here for everyone. For one reason or another I just can’t bring myself to label dandelions as trolls in the greenery.

Cup of tea?

What I do sometimes consider is the list of plants which are being affected by global weather changes and how some people think the best course of action is to take very aggressive action such as artificial fertilization and genetic manipulation. How else will we feed the planet they ask! Well we won’t that is not out my tiny garden that’s for sure. Yet even though I am not botanist I can see plants get stressed. I read that some planets are getting a bad sunburn. (evil ultra violate sunrays perhaps) So do we need a sun shield or would the plant next to it provide some welcomed shade. It is formally called companion planting I think.

Like having a good bacteria or virus everything can benefit from the deal. They tell me the mary-de-wanta plant has the most tolerance to a changing climate but that’s another topic for another time. I just grow common plants and a few common weeds.

 

[Zuluski]

I love gardening. Below is the latest addition to my garden. I got them just last week. Don't those 3 look charming?

 

[wyindywidualizowany]

Are these 3 gnomes supposed to symbolize the 3 multidiggers on colorado?

 

[Zuluski]

it only shows you how much The West and Colorado in particular still inspires me after all those years that i decided to have a little part of Colorado in my garden.

 

[Poker Alice]

Do still enjoy my gardening chores from time to time though it can be challenging. Sometime predators will sneak up on you and eat the leaves off what you have planted. My worse enemy now is the cut worm. I don’t mind sharing here that these little demons pinch into the bottom of a young defenseless plant and suck the living life out of it. Rather than take a bite or two of a leaf and go on their merry way they kill the youths chance of ever maturing. I should be reading up on how to control cut worms. I’ll put that on my to do list.

Anyway back to this online game. As I’m looking at the western map while tending sheep I’m thinking of crossing the bridge where a native can stream/river/spear fish, straighten the river, destroy the dam. I’m on my way to greener pastures to pick apples and oranges. Hope to not get banned from the game for berry picking but you never know. lol - those 3 eh?

How do you feel about this picture from the 1970 movie Chisum which is story of conflict between cattle barons and forced-out ranchers?

 

[Dr Roth]

I feel a bit afraid, he does seem like a jolly-tough fellow. Maybe he would be dangerous and stamp on my lovely flowering petunias.

 

[Poker Alice]

He might! I rekon it depends on which side of the fence your standin on.
Billy the kid for example thought it fitting to steal a horse in order to flee from his crimes, lost it to some Apaches and forced to walk on foot. But he later joined a band of rustlers who stole cattle from the rich man John Chisum.

Western stories are filled with conflict and good guy bad guy imagery but now and then you need to step back and remember many of the stories are fictional even back in the time. They were told so to give the western life some excitement and appeal. The real workers of civilization which eventually built the west and the rest of the country got accomplished by hard working people. Perhaps even had some berry pickers amongst them. - A much less exciting story?