By Carrie Knutson, NDSU Extension Agent, Grand Forks County

Gardening can be a tough hobby.

Gardening is not like playing golf or basketball. Gardeners play only one game a year. It’s a game where the opponents - Mother Nature, insects and animals - try their best to stop us from winning a beautiful landscape and pantry full of vegetables to eat during the winter.

This has been a difficult year for many of us in the plant world: worsening drought conditions throughout the state, early warmth followed by frost and now heat that just won’t stop.

So, in light of all the struggles we face as gardeners, I thought it was time for some humor to help us through the rest of the growing season.

I present a “You might be a gardener if …” list.

• You have amended soil, built raised beds or hauled different soil in to grow plants that need a low soil pH, specifically blueberries.
• You ever have rescued plants from yard waste disposal sites.
• You have killed a favorite plant at least three times but still will try again next year just in case the plant decides to grow this time.
• You have two pairs of gardening shoes. One of them is a good pair that you save for going out in public. The other pair doesn’t leave the yard.
• You have a favorite pair of work gloves that has holes patched with several layers of duct tape.
• You consistently try to grow plants out of their hardiness zone.
• Your family complains about your composting habit.
• You have no room for vehicles in your garage on frost warning mornings because of all your plants.
• Rabbits and squirrels are your arch nemeses.
• You have fences within fences within fences to keep your pets and arch nemeses out of your garden.
• You paint your nails a dark color during the growing season to help hide the dirt.
• While visiting a local greenhouse or garden store, you get asked if work you there. You say no but help the customer anyway.
• Many of your sentences begin with “Next year I/we should try … .”

I hope you enjoyed reading the list and laughed at least at little. I must admit I have done quite a few of these items, but I still have some left to do. Maybe next year I can add them to my garden to-do list. Happy gardening!

For more information about gardening, contact your local NDSU Extension agent. Find the Extension office for your county at https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension/directory/counties.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - July 13, 2021

Source: Carrie Knutson, 701-780-8229, carrie.knutson@ndsu.edu

Editor: Ellen Crawford, 701-231-5391, ellen.crawford@ndsu.edu