dirty little secret

I have one.

I don’t mind spending money on gardening. And I’ve bought a lot of worthless stuff in the name of trying to do the right thing. But gardeners are experts at ignoring inconvenient truths.

Does the garden really need a soil test for the second consecutive year? I’d bet just about anyone would say nope. But I bought another mail-in kit anyway. How else am I supposed to get a handle on what the work I did last year accomplished? Oh…wait and see how the plants thrive? Pfft. Too easy and cheap.

The soaker hose that got its end mowed off. The army of weird nutrients that I buy just because they’re organic and I’m enthused and the iPad’s Amazon app is fired up and waiting by my recliner. The worm tea brewing system, the soil thermometers, the shop lights (man, they’re expensive these days), the wire and wood backbones of the garden, the useless garden planning apps…seriously, I could go on for a long time.

Some of these purchases were money down the drain. Some were revelations.

But I don’t regret the spending. How many worms would a set of golf clubs buy, or how many centuries-worth of seeds could be purchased for the price of a boat?

The point is, gardening is my passion, more than a hobby. A lot of people spend a lot more money on a lot less fulfilling ways to fill their free time. So I don’t regret dropping some bucks, even for stupid gardening stuff that never works. It either does what I hope it will, or I learn a lesson.