I grew up in the country and had my own garden since I was probably in late grade school age. We grew a lot of stuff. The family traditionally had 100 > 125 tomato plants (we canned) in addition to strawberries, and the other more common vegies (taters, corn, peppers, beets, lettuce, beans, peas, etc.). I have seen little interest in gardens by our youth. Admittedly, I absolutely hated to dig potatoes considering the amount we grew when I was a kid. But even then, I knew the importance of knowing how to grow stuff and doing it well.
Bored2deth, put your wife out there weeding a bit later.
Thinking about the bale of straw approach. Might pick up a tomato plant or two and give it a try. I am curious.
That's a good life to have grown up in! Makes you self-reliant and tough. I grew up much the same way, although it was my grandfather whom raised me for the most part. He and I along with my mother and grandmother raised corn, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, beans, peppers, on to peaches, apples, pears, figs...lol. We both canned and dried. My grandfather and I did the heaviest work, and also raised rabbits and chickens. I can remember going on fishing trips with my grandfather, going after trout, turtles, crayfish, panfish. We hunted small game from muskrat to squirrel and rabbit. He told me at a young age, "Boy, it might just kill me, but I'm going to turn you into a mountain man, and a master one at that!"
Oh, I know what you mean...kids today...all they think about are video games, t.v. shows, and texting. -_- What a waste of time!! It does them no good, they learn absolutely nothing! Cripes! Ugh! I can't sit infront of a t.v. for more than an hour at a time (at most). I'd much rather be planting a garden, tending to animals, practicing self-defense, shooting a bow, fishing, hiking, anything but sitting on my rear! When I was a kid, my grandfather didn't let me watch a lot of t.v. "Boy, let's go hiking, I'm going to show you some plants you can eat, and others that are poison. We might even go catch some crawdads and turtles." Sufficed to say, I was a tough and hardworking but well-mannered child. He taught me to throw axe and knife, operate a rifle, hunt small game, fish, identify plants, and got me started in self-defense. He taught me to plant everything he knew how, and even some wild plants. I'm sure it must be fun to sit on the hiney and play video games, or lay on the sofa and watch t.v. shows all day....but there is nothing
like the satisfaction of a hard day's work.
Here's an idea for the educational system:Introduce children to old skills such as gardening!! It'll teach them patience, care, and discipline! Plus it's a cheap hobby! Not to mention, the vegetables grown could be cooked by the cafeteria staff and eaten by both students and staff at lunch.
Plus I have several strawberry plants putting out the most perfect berries I've ever seen! I can't wait!