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What is She Doing?

November 9th, 2011

I’m fairly certain my neighbors must think I’m crazy, especially this time of year. The other day I was in the front yard planting crocuses and miniature daffodils in the lawn. I decided that I wanted to make a river of blooms down through the middle of the lawn, with a few smaller patches radiating out to the side.

In order to avoid forgetting where I planted the bulbs and accidentally dig them up while planting more, I dug all the holes at once. It looked like I had lost my mind.  My neighbor actually came over to see what I was doing, she said she was wondering if I was getting rid of more lawn.


I was thinking that in these situations I should come up with some crazy story to tell people when they ask (my neighbor wasn’t the only person to stop). I should have said I was trying to catch a gopher.  Hopefully, when they drive by next spring they’ll remember this day and realize what I was doing.

Do ever think things your neighbors do are crazy? What about you, do you do things your neighbors might wonder about?

21 Comments to “What is She Doing?”
  1. daisy on November 9, 2011 at 7:23 am

    I don’t pay much attention to my neighbors, but I’ll bet they have had a few ideas about me! Who cares? Life is too short to worry about what other folks think of you.

    You are going to have some beautiful display!

    Reply to daisy's comment

  2. Kathi Cook on November 9, 2011 at 7:34 am

    Hahaha Yes! When I started staking of my veggie beds my very curious neighbor who previously commented “Dont you have enough to weed around here, you’re planting more flowers” ? asked what I was doing with the large (5 by 20) recatangles and I joked “a built in pool”. I also threw my daily compost right onto the beds when I first started them since I was using the lasagna gardening technique. I always smiled wondering what my neighbors were thinking as I tossed piles of veggie waste on top of it. (every few days I would rake it in and cover it with soil.) I think after 12 years they are uused to me now.I still compost directly into my garden from Oct to March since it’s right off of my kitchen..

    Reply to Kathi Cook's comment

  3. Jennifer Fisk on November 9, 2011 at 8:13 am

    I’m sure my neighbors, who moved in last Dec from NJ, aren’t sure what to make of me. They hear my rooster very early and the turkeys gobble periodically all day long. They were awakened on a Saturday AM by my dogs confronting a family of coyotes that had just killed a meat rabbit that had escaped its hutch. The wife is accompanying me to the slaughter house when I get two of the turkeys processed. I told her it is a really cool experience because of the camaraderie of all the backyard growers who are having their turkeys done. Yup, they aren’t in suburbia any more.
    Can’t wait to see photos in the spring of your flowers.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  4. Rhonda on November 9, 2011 at 8:46 am

    I KNOW my neighbors think I’m crazy. A couple of years ago the gal next door came over and asked me “Do you know what this is?” she was holding a squash blossom. I told her what it was and that it must have creeped through the fence into her yard. She said, “You GROW squash?”
    Oh brother … thank goodness for privacy fences …

    Reply to Rhonda's comment

  5. Melissa on November 9, 2011 at 8:58 am

    Our neighbors thought we were nuts 2 years ago when we used cow peas as a cover crop for where we now have grass planted. But we had to do something to break up the soil- it was rock hard! worked like a charm!

    Reply to Melissa's comment

  6. Dave on November 9, 2011 at 9:59 am

    I’m constantly wondering if my neighbor’s think I’m crazy. Love the gopher idea! The daffs will look great in the spring.

    Reply to Dave's comment

  7. Daedre Craig on November 9, 2011 at 10:21 am

    I think my neighbors know I’m kind of “different”. Between the vegetable garden and the chickens, they seem to think that all I do is farm and garden constantly.

    Reply to Daedre Craig's comment

  8. Sherri on November 9, 2011 at 10:45 am

    We moved here 2 years ago and so are the NEW people on the block which makes our gardening “weirdness” even more noticeable! Plus being on a corner lot…haha…Our yard was completely bare save for 2 trees. Neighbors are constantly commenting about the changes we have made in the yard. All positive comments! We have a friendly neighborhood with lots of other gardener types. I love when I see others out digging and kneeling in their yards too! We are not alone…ha
    Cheers ❁

    Reply to Sherri's comment

  9. MAYBELLINE on November 9, 2011 at 11:28 am

    1. My trashy neighbors are always doing crazy (dumb) things.
    2. I could not care less what my neighbor’s think of me.

    What was that quote? “Love thy neighbor.”
    That’s a tough one.

    Reply to MAYBELLINE's comment

  10. goatpod2 on November 9, 2011 at 11:55 am

    There’s nothing that our neighbors wonder what we’re up to since they already know though since we only know the neighbors on either side of us and they’ve been here to help my Dad, etc.

    Amy

    Reply to goatpod2's comment

  11. Laura on November 9, 2011 at 12:31 pm

    Our neighbor who we affectionately call “Yellow Fang” never passes up the opportunity to stand, hands on her hips and scowl on her face, staring us down every time we walk outside with a shovel. She once came over and offered us a “Tru-Green” coupon while my husband was out mowing. I painted the garage door a bright blue (primer) and left it for a few days before putting the final color on just to worry her. Our other (very nice) neighbor let us take over her beautiful garden this past summer and grow whatever we wanted! Yellow Fang went over to her house to tattle that we had “been doing stuff” in her garden, and demanded to know if we were planning any more projects outside our house. I am glad Yellow Fang thinks we are nuts. I would be worried if she didn’t!

    Reply to Laura's comment

  12. Corrie on November 9, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    Interesting technique! When I worked at Spring Grove, we naturalized tons of crocus and scilla in the lawns. We found that using a small ice pick worked really effectively, and quickly. Can’t wait to see what your lawn looks like in a few years!

    My neighbor asked me to come over and help her create a vegetable garden in her yard, so I guess I’m doing ok by her. The other is always offering help and advice, so I guess he’s not so impressed.

    Reply to Corrie's comment

  13. risa on November 9, 2011 at 1:28 pm

    Launching rotten tomatoes at the chicken pen from the tomato bed (fifty feet away) has gotten remarks. But the chickens love me for it anyway.

    Reply to risa's comment

    • Jennifer Fisk on November 9, 2011 at 7:33 pm

      That’s funny as I’ve done it too.

      Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  14. Three on Grove on November 9, 2011 at 1:55 pm

    : ) That is so funny! I would have wondered what was going on too! Can’t wait to see what it will look like when it blooms!

    Reply to Three on Grove's comment

  15. Miranda on November 9, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    oh, haha – okay this makes more sense.
    And yes, my neighbors thought i was crazy (i am crazy). They were especially bemused when they’d see my husband and me carrying our vacuum to the front yard and sucking on the tomato plants…… We were sucking off the stink bugs! It really works!

    Reply to Miranda's comment

  16. kristin @ going country on November 9, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    Pretty sure our closest neighbors think we’re crazy rednecks. But they’re really nice to us anyway–they even let us tap their maple trees. The neighbor on the other side is pretty nuts herself, and not in a redneck way, so I don’t think we register as particularly weird to her.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  17. KimH on November 9, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    You could have said you were making a mountain of mole hills.. haha..
    I love the yard photos.. Entirely too funny!

    Yeah, some of the neighbors think Im a bit crazy, but that hasnt scared them off. We’ve all got our own bit of being tetched on this block. No one is immune in this neck of the woods. ;)

    When I moved in, the 3 across the street neighbor ladies would stand around talking, and wondering about me when I started digging around the house or when I was doing anything outside period.

    I put in a nice bed of flowers & plants, and the next year, they all did the same thing. Haha.. I started growing tomatoes, peppers, asparagus, & some herbs along the sides of the house, and amazingly, they started doing the same.. I’d just roll my eyes..

    The men on the block are all buddies.. so over the years we’ve all become friends..and that is how I happened to find out they used to talk about me & wonder what on earth I was up to now. I have GREAT neighbors.. and so do they.

    Reply to KimH's comment

  18. Cherise on November 10, 2011 at 11:30 pm

    I live in a rural area where I have only two close neighbors. The family that is native to the county has only talked to us a handful of times in the last 12 years. So, clearly, I think they are weird. haha (After they got chickens my husband gave me the OK to get some of our own. He didn’t want a rooster disturbing them. I guess they didn’t consider that with us.)

    My other neighbor moved here from out-of-state and is very nice. I’m sure they think we’re kind of strange to put so much time in our gardens. Not to mention that I homeschooled for most of time we’ve lived here. That alone makes me strange.

    But, a couple weeks ago the nice neighbor dug trenches around the entire house including the garage. I couldn’t help but call her and ask what’s going on. Her husband was putting in a French drain. We’re friends like that. If she wants to know what we’re doing, she’ll call me up. If I’m curious about them, I give her a call. We always end up chatting for at least 30 minutes. It’s good to have at least one nice neighbor.

    Reply to Cherise's comment

  19. Amber J on November 11, 2011 at 12:19 pm

    Last spring I was outside getting all the gardens ready and neighbors from all sides came to find out what was going on. It is great! Now I have neighborly friends on all sides which is just how I like it. One neighbor asked me how we got our tomatoes to grow so large, we had some over two pounds, it was pretty funny. I showed him the compost pile!
    I think my neighbors are wierd because they stay inside all year watching tv. They come outside pale and sleepy, it seems like such a waste to me! Spending all that time inside when it is shining sun outside. Sad, its no wonder why everyone is on antidepressants!

    Reply to Amber J's comment

  20. kelly wood on February 20, 2012 at 8:00 pm

    Love all these posts and am glad to find them. My neighbor is still furious that I removed all the invasive and non-native species from our lot. She says that “she likes my children, but thinks I am a crazy”! Oh well. Wait until I bring in the chickens!

    Reply to kelly wood's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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