World Naked Gardening Day

[eyesup]

. . . and the grass had sprung up due to having fertilised it (that was a mistake - I've never experienced such rapid growth of grass!  Beware of Scotts Evergreen Weed & Feed, it works! So you end up with more hard work!).

You know the saying that, "insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result"? I have often used the process of putting fertilizer on the grass and then cutting it, over and over and over, as a different definition. 

Duane

[ric]

ive never seen the point in fertilizing a lawn or indeed in watering one, i dont worry over much about moss or weeds.... as long as somethings growing a few pretty flowers and food for the insects can only be a bonus.... incidentally dandelion leaves are a good salad veg, as is chickweed and fat hen.

[nuduke]

With apologies for the rather non-naturist digression, I decided to fertilise for two reasons:  First, in our previous residence I had never done other than cut the lawn and over years had witnessed the spread of moss and deterioration of the sward.  Second, in our new place, the lawn was of decent quality and the previous owner told me he weeded and feeded twice a year in Spring & Autumn.  So I followed suit to try and preserve the grass quality.  This I appear to have done with the aforementioned consequences.  I suspect without artificial aids, the area will become weedy, mossy and deteriorate on the basis of observation pre feeding.

Back to the SN plot.  I did some weeding today and stripped for that risking a view through the side gate if anyone came up our front lawn (Probability = 0.001) but was careless enough to not notice that I had moved into a position of clear visibility from the road!  I hope nobody saw!  I don't think so - it was pretty quiet (we live in a suburban side road).

John

[nuduke]

Afterthought:  Wouldn't it be nice just to let everything run to seed, weed and adventitious saplings, thus creating our own little woodland/nature reserve/meadow and naturist paradise COMPLETELY MAINTENANCE FREE!  But I'm too wimpy for that.  Will keep the garden tended and sit in the sun on our well weeded patio, like a good, obedient citizen and suburban householder, a victim of the textile conformist hegemony of Airstrip One.
John

[eyesup]

Allowing land to revert to it's natural state is being implemented in places here in the US. Some states  in the midwest are taking land once used for farming and reseeding it with prairie grasses then putting buffalo back on the land. If you could manage to remove all the non-native species it might make a nice place to engage in some SN.

Unfortunately, as you point out, some in the 'civilized' areas would be shocked! Shocked! You would also need more land than is available on a residential plot.

Duane

[reubenT]

When I don't keep a spot maintained,  mowed at least once a year.    It goes back to forest real fast.   Been about 4 years since I had a garden on the spot I'm re-clearing now,   the saplings were big enough to make firewood out of if I wanted to,   which I didn't,   got plenty of bigger wood to work on from the edge where I'm pushing the clearing back to let in more light.    Got a load of lime today so tomorrow I'll get the rest of the wood moved,  rototill it and spread the lime.  rototill again and get my plants put in.  Not working naked right now,  just close to it off and on,   since it's close to home base and others coming by at times.  But this site will be done soon and I will move back to clear some places where I can work free of impediment and not expect visitors.   And as the weather heats up more I think I will put in some water tanks or pools for future irrigation,   and skinny dipping to cool off,   cutting firewood is what I usually do in winter because it's vigorous work,  makes me hot,  but now I have need of doing lots of fire wood right through the summer.       

[jbeegoode]

I left my yard natural desert. It is alive, an ecosystem and the most biodiverse in the state. It is trouble free, only requiring trail maintenance. I watch the seasons change, the vegetation changing year to year, the reaction of fauna and flora to changes in weather year to year, Travelers come by from time to time as it links the wild to the wild, bobcat, weird insects, amazing wildlife. Gila Monsters stopped by last week paired in mating season, AND all of this is there to observe, to know and learn from. My neighbor has a tidy dirt lot, that is dying more and more as the soil degenerates.

It is a fine thing to walk barefoot, to lie nude, to roll on a finely crafted lawn, but the area doesn't need to be very big, or very wide. Just a patch, or just a trail of manicured work. A big area needs mowed, trimmed, and fertilized, supplementary watering, lots of effort. As a teenager I made income creating and managing lawns in Michigan. Every Saturday morning I was walking around in a design pushing a lawn mower. Some people like such projects and enjoy the work. As Nuduke and I realize, a golf course has its appeal.
Jbee 

[nudewalker]

As much as I would like to let things return to a natural state our little town has ordinances against such activities. Grass has to be cut or first you are sent a letter from the board, then a notice is posted on your door and finally a crew will come and cut it plus bill you. I like the idea of clearing pathways, having little areas of solitude for meditation or sunning and privacy. We continue to look with no luck yet.

[eyesup]

. . . our little town has ordinances against such activities.

We have a "Neighborhood Association" (don't you just love the juxtaposition of those two words)! I refer to them as the "Neighborhood Nazis". Sometimes I get looks when I say that, more often than not I get approving nods. I am not alone.

I yearn for a non-associated space.

Duane

[kensunwalker]

Inspired by World Naked Gardening Day, I planted peas, onions, carrots, beans, and radishes in the terraced garden area I built on our land in Dewey, AZ.  I also planted some bushes for privacy on our nature trail.  I loved the day.  (I'd attach a photo but can't figure our how to resize it for this site - any suggestions?)

I’ve been working on the fence around garden area to hopefully keep the rabbits out.  It should be completed today, so I should be able to plant the tomatoes and peppers.  (A little late I know.)

Most days I am able to walk the trail and work the garden nude.  And Amy often joins me.

Anyone interested in visiting me and Amy, walking our nature trail (nude of course if you want), and visiting our garden?

[eyesup]

[

I'd attach a photo but can't figure our how to resize it for this site - any suggestions?

I think Bob and Nudewalker have attached photos directly or you could use Ian's how to on posting from a photo site, see here. I have used Ian's tutorial several times and it works great.

Maybe those that attach them to the post can offer up some tips.

Duane

[JOhnGw]

You can use Windows Paint to crop and/or resize your pictures.
See this link for an explanation http://nakedpublicdares.com/photohelp.htm

[kensunwalker]

I still can't make it work.  The site says:  Your file is too large. The maximum attachment size allowed is 100 KB.

Oh well.

[nudewalker]

This is going to let all of you know how challenged I am when it comes to computer stuff. Part of the program that was on the disk that came with the camera I got has a feature that shrinks photos to what they call mobile device size. By trial and error I have found I can upload two such pictures with text on any given post. That's why I spread out trip reports and try to keep it to a minimum.

[nuduke]

When I don't keep a spot maintained,  mowed at least once a year.    It goes back to forest real fast.

Reuben, you conjure such attractive visions of your green and fertile surroundings.  I remember some of your posts lots of a lot of time ago showing your wood sawing activity I think I recall.  Your forest home sounds so very attractive...but hard work!  I'd like to see a pic or two more, if you feel inclined.

I left my yard natural desert.

Yeah JBee, that's easy.  Desert grows slowwww and not much grows so it doesn't need much maintaining.  English garden grows fassstttt with diversity of species and growth that even cultivated as wilderness needs a fair bit of work!    Shucks, I want to live in desert!!

Inspired by World Naked Gardening Day, I planted peas, onions, carrots, beans, and radishes in the terraced garden area

And now, Ken, after that idealistic impulse you gotta weed 'em and water 'em and spray stuff on and look after 'em and harvest and clean 'em and cook 'em and so on ...all year!  I get backache just thinking about it!!   You will have concluded I am not a gardening enthusiast by inclination  

John