As usual I'm the odd man out. I grew up out in the country and both my parents were "avid gardeners'. They loved to work up the ground (with a tractor) and plant flowers and veggies. The "main garden was 1/2 an acre with a number of additional plots for pumpkins, watermelons, honey due melons, squash, strawberries, raspberries, asparagus, and gourds. In total there was a little over an acre in veggie gardens and flowers.
It was a family project to lay out the rows and plant the seeds. After that it was the kids job to keep everything weeded and hoed by hand. There were 5 boys and we were each assigned rows. It was our responsibility to keep ALL the weeds out during the growing season. That meant weeding by hand every row every 2 to 3 days. My dad would regularly inspect everything to be sure we weren't slacking off.
It was the worlds most boring job. Each kid was weeding and hoeing 6 to 10 rows of garden. Each row was approximately 200 feet long. Taking care of the garden was our #1 priority. It had to be in tip top shape before we were allowed to go play baseball, football, or engage in any other social activity. The harvest was always bountiful, and we all enjoyed the fruits of our labor. However it was an experience I don't wish to repeat on a yearly basis.
I avoided any further gardening until we built our current house over 30 years ago. My wife thought it might be nice to have a small veggie garden in the back yard. I ground my teeth a bit, smiled and went to work. This time the results weren't nearly as good. It turned out we were planting a rabbit feeding plot rather than a veggie garden for human consumption. We tried everything from soup to nuts to keep the rabbits out with minimal success. In the end we plowed it all under and planted grass. While my love for mowing grass has diminished in the last few years it's still preferable to attempting to grow veggies.
