Horticulture, anyone?

[NebTanner]

With the dicussion recently regarding World Nude Gardening Day, I got to wondering, is there anyone else in the forums into horticulture in a major way.
Outdoor gardening? Indoor gardening--orchids, begonias, African violets, etc.?
I have an extensive collection of indoor plants so I'm gardening all year 'round.

[NebTanner]

With the dicussion recently regarding World Nude Gardening Day, I got to wondering, is there anyone else in the forums into horticulture in a major way.
Outdoor gardening? Indoor gardening--orchids, begonias, African violets, etc.?
I have an extensive collection of indoor plants so I'm gardening all year 'round.

[WacoTX]

I built a large flower bed for my wife last spring. I mow and prune, she gardens (but not in the nude). I'm building a retaining wall. My back yard slopes downward at about 50 degrees. Previous owners had used railroad ties, but they are rotting and sliding out of position so I am building retaining walls. When I finish that I have a Japanese maple to plant and ligustrum to prune. The good part is I can do a lot of that naked.

[Tara]

I haven't done too much gardening, unless fresh herbs and a couple house plants from Ikea count, but I am OBSESSED with Landscaper's Challenge and Outers Spaces on HGTV

I want to have Landscaper's Challenge design my "nudist backyard" someday!

[vintagecarguy]

I grow carnivorous plants.

[Trailscout]

Vintagecarguy, maybe you need to visit the Yahoo Insect breeders groups and your pitcher plants would have a food source in the winter months.

Seriously, I enjoy field trips to see carnivorous plants down on the Georgia coastal plain. If you are interested in native plants, one of the most interesting events in the US is the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It happens every year in late April.

I also like epiphytic plants, (essentially tropical and subtropical plants that grow in the boughs of trees). I especially take interest in ephipytic cacti. Here's a link to a club in California: San Diego Epiphyllum Society

I am very interested in heirloom gardening, that is raising plants from seed that have been passed down from generation to generation and are adapted to their local habitat. It's a way of preserving species diversity, it's a link to the culture of our ancestors and it helps us be more independent gardeners and farmers. Seed Savers Exchange is one of the best-known heirloom gardening networks.

Heirloom gardeners tend to be organic gardeners. Many of the counties around here host farmer's markets and there organic growers have a way of making themselves known to the public. Organic growers around here meet fairly regularly to exchange info. You might try googling to find out what is available online and locally.

I have done landscaping. It's tough work, but its a neat feeling to be an "Earth artist" and use the ground and living plants as your medium of expression. The best landscapes include water. Nudity and water go together and I think one can only fully immerse oneself into nature if he or she is experiencing outdoor life in the nude.

It would be interesting to discuss what makes the ideal nudist landscape. I visited the Royal Botanic Garden in England and thought how wonderful it would be to spend a June day there in the nude.

[naturalmanwa]

I am not into indoor plants but I do the mowing and edging and quite a bit of the weeding outdoors. The wife is the real gardener but her health doesn't permit her to do as much as she likes.

[Trailscout]

naturalmanwa,

Your wife may presently be the principle gardener in your family, but if you keep mowing, trimming and planting, gardening may "grow on you".

[RalphVa]

I'm a master gardener. Taught the pruning class Th night to the current MG class.

Do mostly veggies and lots of small fruit and a little bit of large fruit. Gotta pick raspberries this morning. Getting about 3 quarts every other day now. For a while, we were filling the gallon bucket up every other day, even as dry as it is. The 2 smaller patches out front aren't doing much because of the lack of moisture.

Got tons of veggies this year. Just take the excess to church, and they disappear.

Do all my gardening naked, including lawn mowing except for a strip along the driveway below its hump and a thin strip in the front yard within sight of the cul-de-sac.

[Trailscout]

Raspberries don't do well here. The humidity is too friendly to powdery mildew. Blackberries and dewberries are less susceptible.

It's been so rainy this summer that I haven't had to water the garden all summer long. Nope, not once.

In the past couple of weeks it has turned a little drier and that has helped my okra crop. Everything else has played out. It's time to plant collard greens for my winter garden.

[Nues]

I grow a little bit of everything, but I guess right now the thing I have the most of is orchids. About 30 plants. I have a 20' x 30' greenhouse here in TN to overwinter the plants that are delicate. I also created a small bog garden this year of carnivorous plants, a couple pitcher plants, a couple of venus flytraps, and about three sundews.

[Nude in the North]

I have a little garden too. About 2 acres.
I'm not very good at it yet but I'm hoping to turn it into a little buisness over the next few years.
It's quite a change from my little 30' x 60' garden I had at my former home.

Here's a list of some of the things I planted.
Tomatos, Sweet corn, Peas, String Beans, Onions, Beets, Carrots, Kohlrabi, Assorted Peppers, Cantalope, Watermellon, Squash, Pumpkins, Cucumbers, Potatos, and Zuchini. I'm sure I forgot something.

We have a little Vegetable stand we have been selling stuff out of. It's going pretty well so far. Atleast we have sold enough to cover the cost of the seed and plants.

I have also started a few patches of Strawberries and Raspberries, but it will be a couple years before they produce very much.

A neighbor that gardens, has offered to give us some Cold Frame boxes he built so we can start more of our own plants next year. I tried a small portable green house but the wind blew it over last spring, ruining most of the plants I had in it. Another lesson learned. Maybe this winter I'll build a stronger one.

July was way too hot and dry for this part of the country. But we still did ok for the first year. I'm learning as we go and taking all the advice I can get from more experienced gardeners. I know next year will be much better.

I can't wait to start planning next years crop.
It's gonna be fun.

Steve