Do Americans have some kind of adversity to gardens or is it due to HOA bullshit?
I know a lot of neighbourhoods in US have explicit rules of what the lawn is supposed to look like, so in a way yeah there are literal rules against gardens.
Americans (Anglos or NW Europeans in general) have a lot of weird phobias such as intensely disliking fish, lamb, goat, (none of these in a vegan way) mushrooms, irrationally scared of bugs, very easily disgusted by things to the point of overwashing their hands, or the opposite where they don’t wash their hands after literally stepping out of a toilet stall, also so disgusted by stuff that they refuse to pick up their dog’s excrement and/or don’t wipe/wash their butts properly (also because this is gay)
I mean, fuck wasps, though.
Both kinds.
Not just NW Europeans, there is a huge culture gap between Poles and Germans.
While we go mushroom hunting every fall, Germans are afraid of even looking at a bolete thinking it will kill them on the spot. It’s a while different world out there, just across the border.
the germanic race was a mistake
freedom is when no food (at your friend’s house)
In Poland it’s a crime to allow a guest to leave with a stomach being below full and without some more food for the road.
Both. My family lives out in the county. There’s no rules as to what is supposed to done with the land.
So…They clear cut it. They’ll leave a few small scraggly oak trees which will mostly all die in a year or two. It’s horrible. They turn a beautiful forest into a dry desert in a week.
They’ll misquote a local rancher, spout misinformation about certain species of trees to justify their horrible land management practices.
And then wonder why the area has less water and is getting hotter.
It’s funny how, in my area at least, the HOAs are always stopping people from wanting to plant, and the people who can plant want to make it look like an HOAs wet dream.
Some of it isn’t even due to HOAs but due to cities or counties. Here’s an article about it if you’re so inclined
Holy shit. I’ve just skimmed it and it’s quite extensive, definitely saving this for a complete read.
Land of the free.
It’s a total shame because so many Americans live on massive lots compared to the rest of the world yet most of those same lots are just invasive grass. Meanwhile switch grass, a native grass to much of the US was tested by the EPA ages ago to be one of the most effective sources of ethanol that could be used for cars. It’s perennial so all you do is leave it and let it grow till the city or whatever comes in and harvests then uses the biomass to create ethanol. It’s also a no-mow grass so fewer lawn mowers and better water retention in the soil.
With a bit of tuning many cars can be modified to run E85 which is 85% ethanol and while this would still have a carbon impact it would be mostly carbon already in the carbon cycle instead of sequestered carbon like NG/Oil/Coal.
If we want to get more adventurous the ethanol would be pretty stable and able to be stored for years if needed as a backup for renewables. Pulling carbon from the atmosphere to store as an emergency reserve to generate electricity in case it’s cloudy and there is no wind for an unexpected amount of time. Whether that be via generators or maybe a steam turbine? (I know ethanol creates water when burned so idk if that would make steam turbines less efficient)
But the real kicker here… distilling ethanol for fuel is illegal in the US and you need specific permits to do so and some states don’t care if it is for fuel or drinking. Land of the fucking free.
I can’t speak to HOA bullshit as I don’t live under one, but a lot of Americans do have gardens. In the summer I grow tomatoes, corn, peppers, squash, zucchini, apples, green beans, raspberries, black berries, strawberries, and catnip for the kitty (and the bees love catnip). Next year I’ll try growing marijuana in the garden too as it was recently legalized here.
But there is truth in this meme. Many home owners are quite obsessed with the golf course / country estate style perfect lawn.
Edit: in the city where I live we are mostly one or two generations removed from our farmer roots. So maybe that’s why there are so many vegetable gardens around here.
In Poland not having a backyard garden is a clear sign of being a well earning city slicker. Because if someone’s a proper prole living in the city, it’s good chances they have a miniature balcony garden. If you’re a prole out in the villages, you have a garden guaranteed.
Kind of an interesting culture we have here, but it’s unfortunately dying out…
I’ve only seen a golf course yard once, and it was in one of them slick new American style suburb homes. They’ve looked off-putting, uninviting and fake to me.
I don’t have a yard yet, but my general goal with my lawn when I do have one would be to keep it trimmed and tidy, but I wouldn’t use any of that pesticide junk and I’d be sure to have plenty of bushes and flowers around.
This house must be owned by a boomer b/c that is not an “average” size for either house nor yard! :-P
it truly sickened me the first time i realized those huge bags of granular pesticide sold at lowes are for completely eradicating all arthropod life from your lawn
i mean at that point just tear up the grass and replace it with astroturf or pave it or something if the idea of a single bug is such an affront to your “lawn”
What the hell, is this a real picture? I thought, this was a shitty render from some 3D modeling software without grass texture.
I like to plant milkweed. The plant is ugly as hell but the bees and butterflies love it.
I am always careful to weed around any milkweed when it grows wild in my garden. I was considering planting some of these next summer for the pollinators.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/asclepias_tuberosa.shtml
fake! driveway is too small and there are not three SUVs parked in it
