weird

[Pottypotter]

Is it just me that gets all excited when they think about rows of home grown vegetables, anyone would think Christmas was coming the way it makes me feel. I just can't wait to get down the allotment and I would get a lot more done if I could stop looking at this forum. I'm addicted to it.

[zebedee]

No, it ain't just you Potty. I adore going to my allotment, and as I said on another thread, when I am there, to quote Mark Twain "Sometimes I stands and thinks! Soemtimes I just Stands!"
I also feel that having to wait for the pace of the plants, against the frenetic pace of life, is a marvelous antidote for the day. Continue to enjoy!

[Pottypotter]

looks like theres not many

[Earthbabe]

Deffo not just the two of you. I've spent best part of three hours there today and although the digging is hard work, I've brought lots of overwintering stuff home with me. I love my little space down there and get very excited when I picture it all sorted out, organised and veggies growing. I also know that Miss EB has great fun there and loves helping to pick veggies and flowers and seems more inclined to eat them.

[ChrisB]

Haven't yet got an allotment, but if I did have, I would be just the same

I get an enormous thrill when seeds germinate and the thought of things to come when they 'grow up'

[HappyMouffe]

I'm the same - now that spring is springing, I can't read gardening books/magazines before going to sleep, as I can''t then get to sleep as I'm too busy thinking about what I want to dig/sow/prick out next

[Snadger]

Must admit I am turning into an alottment bore! It's all I ever talk about!

Must broaden my horizen as they already think I am the lottie night watchman as I'm always the last one out to lock up the gate!

Can't wait til the clocks go forward!!!!

[Mrs Dobby]

Last one off here too Snadger, and it is something that has deffo taken over a large chunk of our lives, all for the better too!

Not only enjoy the hard work and exercise, nor the sense of satisfaction at seeing the seeds breaking the surface, but there's something good about being close to nature, being out in it and just taking time to have a look around, definitely a de-stressing experience and a calming / empowering one too! I feel much more in tune with the nature and world around me than I did before we got the plot!

[kirsty b]

I never thought I would be bitten quite so hard by the gardening bug!
As my lottie is fenced and has a gate, its very private and I refer to it as my secret garden.
Yes, its bl***y hard work getting it into shape after its been neglected for so long, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Its starting to look like an allotment now I'm into the digging. Spuds in soon!
Even planning on starting my own blog
Kirsty

[madderbat]

Wholeheartedly agree, just itching to get planting; and the Vine; the Vine! This place really gets under your skin. I've said it before, and no doubt will say it again, but I've never felt so comfy anywhere. I love it.

[TonyF]

Most certainly is a major part of my life - even in the winter I'm planning what I'll be doing when the weather starts to warm up.

I agree with Jane - there are plenty of what I think of as real gardeners round here, so many of the French have large and very productive kitchen gardens but for many of them it's just part of life, they are mainly from farming families and just think of the veggie garden as the only way of getting through winter or the cheap alternative to the supermarket. And they tends to grow the same varieties year after year.

Have found a couple of Brit gardeners who are seriously into GYO, the philosophy of it and making the changes that you need to make here rather than transporting their UK garden here - so many perfectly flat green lawns and wonderful flower beds that die back/off in temperatures of 35 plus for four weeks with watering bans!

And this place is addictive, not only for the practical help and advice but for the GARDENERS as well, I think of the grapevine as my online allotment and the messages here as the chats over a cup of tea.

[Nicos]

I've never spent so much time 'gardening' in my life as on the Vine- and love the company of such like-minded people!! I have learned so much over the past year ( and hope I have passed something useful on to at least one person!!)

'Real gardening' however is rewarding in the creative way and it's great to be able to enthuse about a carrot or tomato without watching eyes glaze over
( no- not under the influence of rhubarb schnapps!! ).

I used to enjoy watching my children sleeping, all tucked up in bed - and now I can't wait to have a peek at the seedlings first thing in the morning!

Also - the anticipation each weekend of the changes on the lottie during the growing season is fantastic!!

Great ain't it???

[roitelet]

There is nothing weird about getting excited over things growing. Gardening is adictive and I have been an adict for YEARS, and now there is the Vine
I feel quite deprived if I am not able to get a morning and evening 'fix' Like TonyF I too feel that it is like having a chat with fellow gardeners over a cuppa.

Even after all the years I have been growing things, since I was about 10 I think, I still get excited over seeds germinating and get a real sense of satisfaction when I harvest or pick a bunch of flowers. No we are not weird just creative people in tune with nature and probably more relaxed than the majority.

[madderbat]

......so many of the French have large and very productive kitchen gardens but for many of them it's just part of life, they are mainly from farming families and just think of the veggie garden as the only way of getting through winter or the cheap alternative to the supermarket.

Speaking of which Tony, did you come across 'God's guide to Lawn Care' that was posted a while back? Roitelet sent it and it shows the difference between the French (well, the rest of the world really) and English .... read it here:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ead.php?t=4664

[Flummery]

Watching your seeds come up is really magic. You sow something that looks like sand or little pebbles and you get green, growing things. The day I don't get excited by germination you can all get your spades out and don't stop till you get to 6ft! Changed my avatar to spring lambs yesterday because although the calendar doesn't agree, it's spring! My frog spawn was a month earlier than usual. I know we'll get frosts, even snow, but the magic has started for me. I also love autumn when the gathering of the produce is a big part of life. Can't bear to think what non-gardeners are missing.

And I also agree that the vine is a happy and interesting place. I only joined a few days ago and already some of you anonymous people have a personality for me. I also love the fact that although people can give differing advice depending on their own experience, it's definitely not the sort of place where someone says, 'No it's not you stupid idiot'. People respect each other here.