• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • r ranson
  • Carla Burke
  • Nancy Reading
  • John F Dean
  • Jay Angler
  • paul wheaton
stewards:
  • Pearl Sutton
  • Burra Maluca
  • Joseph Lofthouse
master gardeners:
  • Timothy Norton
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Maieshe Ljin
  • Nina Surya

Would you rather be working in your garden or on a project by yourself or with a group of friends?

 
gardener
Posts: 2485
Location: Central Maine (Zone 5a)
1096
homeschooling kids trees chicken food preservation building woodworking homestead
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Would you rather be working in your garden or on a project by yourself or with a group of friends?

This is beyond introvert/extrovert. Some people want things done their own way, and others just want them done.
 
Matt McSpadden
gardener
Posts: 2485
Location: Central Maine (Zone 5a)
1096
homeschooling kids trees chicken food preservation building woodworking homestead
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Sometimes I want both of these. I enjoy the quiet of working in my garden, but realistically, I would choose with friends, so I could get it done faster.
 
Rusticator
Posts: 8877
Location: Missouri Ozarks
4743
6
personal care gear foraging hunting rabbit chicken cooking food preservation fiber arts medical herbs homestead
  • Likes 14
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I'll give a classic permie response: It depends. In this case, it depends on both the project and my mood.
 
master gardener
Posts: 5050
Location: Upstate NY, Zone 5, 43 inch Avg. Rainfall
2196
monies home care dog fungi trees chicken food preservation cooking building composting homestead
  • Likes 15
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I find moments where I enjoy both, but I tend to be of the camp of working by myself.

I am what some people call a "Pidler" or a "Putterer" but in the best of ways. I like to take my time, enjoy the breeze, get distracted by 15 things, and then come back to the same thing and ponder. This is mostly because I have the outcome in my brain, but don't know how to use my hands to get there. A little work here, a little work there. Take a half hour or so to cool my temp when I get frustrated because I know I will cause more damage if I continue. The usual!
 
gardener
Posts: 1382
Location: Proebstel, Washington, USDA Zone 6B
820
2
wheelbarrows and trailers kids trees earthworks woodworking
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I find myself wanting to work with friends more often these days. For the force multiplier aspect, yes. But also because it is more fun!
 
steward
Posts: 16705
Location: USDA Zone 8a
4350
dog hunting food preservation cooking bee greening the desert
  • Likes 13
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Since we moved to the boondocks I don't know a group of people so my only answer would be:

I would rather work by myself.

 
gardener
Posts: 3328
Location: Western Slope Colorado.
687
4
goat dog food preservation medical herbs solar greening the desert
  • Likes 15
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I prefer alone, though if I had the “right” people I enjoy it… and appreciate the help…

I have had a few great wwoof helpers, but they were outnumbered by the other
 
gardener
Posts: 436
Location: Southern Manitoba...bald(ish) prairie, zone 3ish
213
transportation hugelkultur monies forest garden urban books food preservation cooking writing woodworking
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Carla Burke wrote:I'll give a classic permie response: It depends. In this case, it depends on both the project and my mood.



Ditto.

I think I'd generally rather work on my own, but there is something to being part of a group pitching in, then enjoying company around a fire or something after the work is done, ideally with adult beverage in hand.
 
master steward
Posts: 7296
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2654
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig bee solar wood heat homestead
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Solo always. My garden is my safe place.


I just reread this post.   Safe …except for the yellow jackets.
 
pollinator
Posts: 1447
Location: zone 4b, sandy, Continental D
401
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Doesn't that depend on the ability and desire of a potential helper?  My children have long moved out, so it is only hubby and me. My kids used to help a bit, [especially to harvest stuff].
Hubby absolutely hates working in the garden, so I know I won't get his help. No use asking. Not even to go get the eggs, or the strawberries, watering the garden, feeding the chickens or building a shelter. Also, I must confess, I am really happy when I am with my trees, chickens, ducks or when I think of a new project. That is what makes me supremely HAPPY.
Hubby is good at fixing things though, finding out why something is not working and finding a solution. He prefers to work with metals, something I am absolutely not good at. He can weld and his work is very precise. He repairs guns and can fix guns he knows nothing about. His spatial intelligence is above par.
I find wood more forgiving, so I prefer to work with woods and plastics.
In general, and especially on special projects that take a lot of time, thinking or concentration to get it right, I much prefer working on my own. I want to concentrate and do it right, and I guess, my way, so I may be a "control freak" in this instance.
The only time when I would prefer working with someone is when the work is tedious or does not require thinking, then talking or listening to music or doing things in cadence helps to make the job seem to go faster. That is the only kind of work I could use company. Does that make me a loner?
 
pollinator
Posts: 174
Location: northern lower peninsula of Michigan
57
5
homeschooling forest garden foraging chicken wood heat homestead
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
As another said, it depends on the task. But as a general rule I mostly garden alone with others in and out of the tasks. Last year hubby helped a bit with planting new asparagus crowns. I wanted to extend the asparagus row. But I finished the task after he helped dig holes and then a  trench. As the gardening season progressed I thinned out berrybushes and roses with a daughter helping who wanted thinning to plant at her place. Grandkids helped plant a few seeds and potatoes now and then But most of what got done I did day in and day out including harvests and fall plantings. I like the gardening more than anyone else in my world right now so I'm out there more. Also I spend time evaluating and refining what's growing where how and why. Then as I get the resources and time I'm out and about putting in place the plants, trees and bushes I planned to add in or cut out. Others are welcome to weave in and out of the homestead and they do but it's primarily my sculpture.
 
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
If I have a strong opinion about how I want something done (in the garden or elsewhere), I prefer to work alone. But if I'm waffling on a few different options, need/want outside opinions, or don't really care how it's done, I prefer working with friends.
 
gardener
Posts: 1050
Location: Zone 6 in the Pacific Northwest
536
2
homeschooling hugelkultur kids forest garden foraging chicken cooking bee homestead
  • Likes 11
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
My impulse is to say with others because I enjoy the company but I think in reality, when I have people over to "help", I end up chatting too much and working too little.

The exception is that my husband and I work well together. We both hyper focus and get a lot done when we are together; we often forget to make dinner until the sun goes down in the summer. 😬
 
pollinator
Posts: 1018
Location: Greybull WY north central WY zone 4 bordering on 3
304
hugelkultur trees solar woodworking composting homestead
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Group.  I am an introvert but struggle to maintain momentum on gardening so as long as I somewhat agreed with the direction taken would choose the group simply because I will accomplish more with someone sort of pulling me along.
 
Posts: 54
Location: SE France
13
fungi trees food preservation medical herbs wood heat composting
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hello,

First sun in about a week. It was short sleeves and shorts followed by a violent drop in temperature verging on but not quite morning frosts.
Slugs managed to find a window during the moderate temperature to snack on seedlings. Those were in a ‘safe’ place.
Those sort of friends I can do without even if they help create humus not the chickpea kind.

I resonated with all the comments.
It’s great to chat if that is really what you all want to do, outside, the activities being an excuse to get together.
Working ,if one wants to call it so, noticing new arrivals in the soil, being followed by a robin picking up the odd worm, putting some effort into scarifying, muttering thoughts out loud, all the better to hear them, stopping to notice whatever.
Sometimes being outside is great, without human company, and sometimes it’s wonderful to share a thought or a view.

There are very few people that I trust to participate in the garden without having some regrets later.
Ahh, no, those are not weeds.

For me, it’s about sharing and all parties acknowledging the time to do, the time to be quiet, the time to stop and, very important, recognising when one needs a spot of advice before forging ahead, me included, and another pair of hands.

Thank you for the topic.
Someone mentioned woofers. I signed up, gave details about seasonal activities around the house and in the local mountains.
One respondent contacted me to ask about activities at the seaside??? several hundred kms away.
Whatever.

Forward and onward, with/without

 
pollinator
Posts: 333
Location: Youngstown, Ohio
109
forest garden urban bike
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Seems to be a general consensus that we usually prefer working in the garden on our own,  with occasional help from family and friends... the ones who need little direction.  I concur.
 
pollinator
Posts: 207
Location: Middlebury, Vermont zone 5a
63
  • Likes 11
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I guess I need better friends; none of them have ever offered to help me in the garden.  If I had people offer help weeding, you'd better believe I'd take them up on it!  They're all over it when it comes to picking the harvest, knowing that I'll have them take what they pick, and, in the case of picking blueberries, we take breaks when it gets too hot  and we'll jump in the pool to swim for a little bit.  I somewhat enjoy catching up with people whom I don't see very often.  We will each take a side, going row by row, pick and visit.  It's a nice way to deal with a task that needs doing.  This year, I plan to learn how to can. I got an apple peeler, corer, slicer and want to also invest in a larger dehydrator, so we'll see as to how much visiting happens.  It's a little tedious that I am never offered anything in return, and sometimes people don't even bring containers and I have to supply those as well. If this option were put on a scale, I think it would tip toward the quiet solitude with nature over the noise of having to listen to other people's issues and problems, however, it does get the job done in half the time, and I do feel like I've done my part in offering what I have.  Funny, some people will even pack a lunch and not bring anything to share.  Wow.  They go home with twenty quarts of blueberries per visit, and they can't spare a few slices of cheese or cut up veggies?  Is that thoughtless or selfish?  I haven't decided, but typing this is making me reconsider my choices.

When I have over-abundance, my plan is to take it to the local food shelf and be done with it.  I will still have people pick blueberries and maybe gooseberries because of how fiddly that job is, but really, I like my time alone.  I just wish people realized how much work it takes to get to the point of picking such a prodigious crop and offer to help along the way.  As a kid, my favorite story book was The Little Red Hen.  That epitomizes who I am.  I don't know whether that book shaped who I am or if I just could totally relate to the situation at such a young age, but the correlations are uncanny.  Yes, I will toil to make the garden, plant the wheat, bake the bread and then offer it to those around me who spent that time just chillin'.
 
gardener
Posts: 608
Location: Amongst the sacred mountains of VT, zone 5a
296
forest garden foraging composting toilet fiber arts bike seed writing ungarbage
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
[quote=marie-helene kutek]

There are very few people that I trust to participate in the garden without having some regrets later.
Ahh, no, those are not weeds.

For me, it’s about sharing and all parties acknowledging the time to do, the time to be quiet, the time to stop and, very important, recognising when one needs a spot of advice before forging ahead, me included, and another pair of hands.

[/quote]

I tend to be in agreement with all of this. I garden in a way where instead of trying to eliminate weeds, I seek to find balance with them, and that attitude and balance aren’t very familiar to most people. Anyway, the weeds are almost always excellent edible and medicinal plants in their own right that if they weren’t there I would probably plant them somewhere less suitable than the place they chose, which would be more work for me.

If I knew a friend who wanted to help, who was careful about plant identification, and who spoke up when uncertain, then I think it could be very fun. I have never had help in my own garden, really, only helped in other people’s gardens. But I did have fun doing so, and it felt energizing.
 
Posts: 9
7
2
cat forest garden trees books chicken bike bee ungarbage
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Both are good, just different. I enjoy the solitude of working alone. But the productivity of a group is very attractive!
 
pollinator
Posts: 3180
Location: Meppel (Drenthe, the Netherlands)
1063
dog forest garden urban cooking bike fiber arts
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Matt McSpadden wrote:Would you rather be working in your garden or on a project by yourself or with a group of friends?

This is beyond introvert/extrovert. Some people want things done their own way, and others just want them done.


I do both. I rent an allotment plot to garden for myself (by myself), and I am member of Permacultuur Meppel, a group of volunteers gardening together in the neighbourhood park (it's an educational garden, showing how 'permaculture' can look in a small garden).
Sure, sometimes we spend more time discussing the plans then gardening ... But that is 'social permaculture' ;-)
 
Posts: 105
Location: Meriden, NH
24
3
chicken homestead
  • Likes 10
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I can only remember having friends help in the garden once.  We were having a summer party with a lot of old friends the weekend after the 4th of July.  I was still kind of awkward most were friends of my husband and their spouses. So, I said my minimal amount of small talk and excused myself to go mulch the rest of the garden.
To my surprise 3-4 other women came with me and we finished in record time.  I felt so light afterward, and yes before you ask, some alcoholic beverages were involved.
 I remember that year as one of my most productive gardens!
 
pollinator
Posts: 929
Location: Clackamas Oregon, USA zone 8b
101
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
By myself.  That is an oddity for me, since I'm extraverted generally, but gardening is somehow something private and special, for just me, and I want it that way, I can take my time and feel the energy of the process and there's no judgement, no critique, its just me learning and figuring things out.  And sometimes that's what I want and need.  Just like I prefer going walking alone, its where I process.
 
gardener
Posts: 686
Location: South-southeast Texas, technically the "Golden Crescent", zone 9a
487
3
foraging books chicken food preservation fiber arts homestead
  • Likes 5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I'm going to agree with the crowd on this. I enjoy being outside and playing with plants. I love the natural noises and the occasional helpful chicken or goose. For the most part, I might mutter to the birds and plants as I move around, but it's "me time".

Like some others, I putter - moving this, weeding that, going around the corner to make sure the patch over there is getting the attention it needs, checking on the wild grapes on the other side - whatever takes my fancy or suddenly hits my memory. I have learned (and constantly relearn) that if I don't do something when I think of it, it might not get done at all. It's easier to do a little bit here or there and do what I remember to do, while I remember to do it.

That sort of disjointed work is hard to explain to others. I could probably tell someone that the strawberries need to be weeded, but to leave the wood sorrel alone, or that the Bay Laurel needs thinning and please just cut out dead wood and I'll get to it in a bit. I would prefer to do it, though. It would be a lot of trouble to try to remember all the things I want to leave alone, identify before pulling, or maybe move to a different place.
A newcomer might accidentally step on a "helpful" chicken, or not know to watch for thistles or poison ivy or something.
 
pollinator
Posts: 369
Location: Appalachian Mountains
178
  • Likes 5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
It is fun to work with friends,  but I actually get a lot more accomplished when working alone.  More work without all the talking.  
 
pollinator
Posts: 179
Location: SE USA, southern Piedmont Uplands, zone 8b
129
home care tiny house cooking fiber arts seed writing composting
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Currently I'd rather work by myself. I like to seek out help and input as I need it. This is my comfort zone.
Probably this is an area ripe for self-development for me. Challenging my comfort zones safely has encouraged growth in the past.
 
pollinator
Posts: 244
66
7
hugelkultur books chicken cooking food preservation greening the desert
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Matt McSpadden wrote:Would you rather be working in your garden or on a project by yourself or with a group of friends?

This is beyond introvert/extrovert. Some people want things done their own way, and others just want them done.



with friends, since I learn things every time I work with others!  I jsut need to remember to stop and watch and learn from them.

Sandy
 
Posts: 311
Location: Myrtle Creek, Oregon
23
4
cooking writing ungarbage
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I prefer to work by myself but sometimes it would be nice to have help, so I choose myself.
 
snakes are really good at eating slugs. And you wouldn't think it, but so are tiny ads:
paul's patreon stuff got his videos and podcasts running again!
https://permies.com/t/60329/paul-patreon-stuff-videos-podcasts
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic