Re: But I always thought Adam was funny! OR "Gardening with theHumor Impaired"! ;-D

**l*@attglobal.net**

Amen, sister.  You wrote my own thoughts better than I ever could.

Lurker-West-of-the-Mississippi,
Lisa

p.s: garlic over eggplant any day

Tetrad wrote:

> Hi, Folks!
>
> Speaking of allergy-free gardening, it appears that some folks on this list
> are allergic to *ADAM*!  Now, I realize it's possible to be allergic to
> nearly anything, but, personally, I find an Adam allergy rather disquieting
> (and that's before he gave me his credit card number as ACGA Emergency
> Office Assistant to re-up his membership [for TWO years, no less -- unlike
> the rest of us who simply re-up for the year and hope we'll all still be in
> business for another! ;-)] and I totally abused my position and bought lots
> of COOL solar-powered dohickies for my new pond [which is in my backyard
> rather than up at the community garden -- bad, BAD me!]) !! ;-D
>
> The symptoms appear as follows:  Someone posts a question or comment about
> gardening in general to the list.  Adam replies, usually in a humorous tone,
> with his thoughts on the topic and related his experiences gardening in NYC.
> I'm JUST about to respond with examples of how we do things in Southeastern
> Pennsylvania (which is ALWAYS superior to anything they do in NYC! ;-)),
> when someone posts an allergic reaction, stating that:
>
> 1) Adam isn't funny
>
> 2) What they do in NYC isn't the way the rest of the world does things
>
> Well, DUH!  My impression (and it could be that I've spent waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
> too long answering polishing garlic bulbs with a toothbrush and then
> answering even more obscure phone calls, e-mail and snail mail at the ACGA
> office than anyone ever DARES to post here!) is that Adam is simply trying
> to start a conversation and begins, as Wendell Berry in his latest book,
> "Life is A Miracle" (reading it because I have to review it -- stay tuned
> for the review coming soon to this list!) states, that we all must begin
> when we dicuss anything, with his own life history and experiences.
> (Unfortunately, in Adam's case, that history means being a community
> gardener in NYC  -- but gosh, *somebody* has to live in NYC and considering
> that many of the gardens are still there IN SPITE of Guiliani, I'd say that
> Adam is doing a decent job.) *I've* thought (although what do garlic growers
> *really* know -- it's the Eggplant People who have true Enlightenment! ;-P)
> that Adam never meant his posts as the be-all and end-all of knowledge on a
> topic -- rather, he was hoping that the folks who garden in different parts
> of the country would add to the thread and share THEIR ideas on the topic,
> too.  (A few NYC folks would probably chime in and tell Adam he's full of
> compost, but that's just the way they all are up there! ;-D)
>
> The point, I always thought, was to stimulate discussion ABOUT THE TOPIC!
> Instead, we seem to be getting this allergic reaction that, like all
> allergic reactions, roars itself into a rash about something that is
> inherently innocuous and is so fixated on dealing with the allergern to the
> exclusion of all else.
>
> Personally, I think there's a lot more knowledge on this list that isn't
> getting tapped because (almost always a lurker, usually west of the
> Missippi) suddenly burts forth and ends the TOPIC by attacking not what Adam
> said, but how he said it.  Maybe it's just an East Coast phenomea (we're
> gardening under EXTRESS stress out here, folks), but lots of us HAVE to use
> humor or we'd be carted out to the funny farm while our gardens were paved
> over to enrich developers who'd LOVE to fit us with concrete shoes if they
> could only figure out the tax deduction!  A little tolerance to other's
> speech patterns and a willingness to share knowledge, rather than sow
> discord could go a long way to making community gardening a "legitmate"
> rather than "temporary" land use in North America.
>
> Personally, I think Adam's funny.  And he does it all in a lot fewer words
> that I can ever muster! ;-)
>
> So, what do you think?
>
> Dorene Pasekoff

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