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Quote of the Day: Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd

August 4th, 2013

Vegetables gardens, rightly viewed, are much more than food factories. They are magic places, little worlds set apart from other domestic or horticultural concerns, realms of peace and order.

Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd in Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill

vegetable gardens 2
vegetable gardens 1
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I really love this book and this quote, because vegetables are truly different than other gardens. For me, vegetables are of top priority. If I had to choose, I’d choose vegetables over hydrangeas any day, though I’m glad I don’t have to.

Would you choose vegetables over ornamentals if you had to make a choice?

16 Comments to “Quote of the Day: Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd”
  1. Lemongrass on August 4, 2013 at 5:55 am

    i would never chose one over the other. i will always plant a vegetable garden and would inter-plant with flowering or non flowering plants. then add to the mix some handmade simple structures.

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  2. kathi Cook on August 4, 2013 at 6:37 am

    Currently, my kitchen garden is weed free and neat, while my flower beds are somewhat weed infested and disheveled looking; so yes, I definitely favor the one that feeds us.

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  3. Joan on August 4, 2013 at 6:40 am

    I’d easily choose vegetables (and do). I usually plant a few flowers in my veggie garden, and let some of my veggies go to seed so have “veggie flowers” to enjoy, but the garden is mostly to feed my family. I love flower gardens but don’t even really have enough time to take care of my veggies, so choose what is more important to me. And, my meadows are my flower gardens. I’m surrounded by 30 acres of fields which are full of beautiful wildflowers. If I didn’t have the fields full of wild flowers I’d plant more flowers in my garden to attract native pollinators.

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  4. Mich on August 4, 2013 at 7:52 am

    My vegetable growing area is huge, am reasonably up to date with the weeding but the flower border is pretty small and sadly looking like it is in need of some serious tlc. Oops.
    So I guess I do choose veg and fruit before flowers.

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  5. Nebraska Dave on August 4, 2013 at 8:39 am

    Susy, vegetables win for me as well. There’s just something about growing things to eat that doesn’t compare with growing flowers for me. I can enjoy the beauty of flowers but give me a good looking patch of tasseling sweet corn and it makes my mouth begin to salivate. Show me a couple rows of potatoes in bloom and my mind goes directly to sour cream and chives. Flowers can be enjoyed for only a short time but veggies can be enjoyed long after their grown through preservation. With flowers it’s all about the growing and caring for the plants but with vegetables that’s just the beginning of the enjoyment.

    So I think there should be both beauty and practicality in a garden. I just haven’t got to that point yet.

    Have a great day during this harvest season.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  6. Lisa Sewell on August 4, 2013 at 8:42 am

    The vegetable garden fuels my kitchen hobbies…so I guess it would have to be veggies over flowers. I really love your lettuce photograph. It reminds me of a big beautiful green rose!

    Reply to Lisa Sewell's comment

  7. Maybelline on August 4, 2013 at 10:37 am

    Vegetables everytime.

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    • Maybelline on August 4, 2013 at 1:50 pm

      I know you know that edibles can be very beautiful AND useful.

      Reply to Maybelline's comment

  8. Deb on August 4, 2013 at 12:32 pm

    Vegetables cause we have to eat and pretty flowers just for prettiness is noit so important. have wild flowers and weeds growing here and I do sometimes put veggies in flower beds if I need more space for veggies. Beauty alkways comes after eating and preserving.

    Reply to Deb's comment

  9. Bonnie Fowler on August 4, 2013 at 1:25 pm

    Vegetables. I have a few flowers that are either useful or ground the look, but even some of my hanging baskets have strawberries or sweet potatoes.

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  10. amy on August 4, 2013 at 2:14 pm

    Both are equally important to me…..Of course my family needs to eat…..but….my flower gardens are so visually soothing and peace inducing…..I love love watching all of the various types of butterfly, bee, hummingbird….birds in general….who visit there….I love all of the colors and perfumes….I plant flowers in with my veg too….but like you….I am so very glad I need not pick one or the other……For me to be allowed only one type would be to lose something valuable.

    Reply to amy's comment

    • Lemongrass on August 4, 2013 at 9:04 pm

      well said, amy!

      Reply to Lemongrass's comment

  11. Kay on August 4, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Veggies all the way!

    Reply to Kay's comment

  12. Colleen on August 4, 2013 at 7:36 pm

    If I had to…vegetables.

    Reply to Colleen's comment

  13. Charlie@Seattle Trekker on August 4, 2013 at 8:56 pm

    Art and design, horticulture, and tasty healthy food are a very powerful combination…great for the soul.

    Reply to Charlie@Seattle Trekker's comment

  14. Caroline on August 4, 2013 at 10:05 pm

    If I had to choose it would be veggies all the way.
    The feeling of going out to the garden and harvesting something for the dinner table is fabulous.

    …… Plus I’m allergic to flowers and the scent makes me nauseous! LOL

    Reply to Caroline's comment

About

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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