Decline in Gardening

**Melanie m*@optonline.net**

Put me down on the list of folks who aren't necessarily seeing a decline in
gardening. What I do see is a change in the type of gardening. Change is
nothing new, there's always been change and always will be change.

Here on the north shore of Long Island I am lucky to live in a neighborhood
that is exploding with McMansions (been calling them that here for years
now). In a very small area (maybe 1 mile by 1 mile), we have 1 acre zoning
but are surrounded by communities with smaller lots. 10 years ago we bought
one of the largest homes (2,400 sq. ft.) on one of the smallest (1.3 acres)
lots. Today we own one of the smallest homes on one of the largest lots. Why
is this lucky? My house is now worth 3 times what I paid for it.

All day long I hear bobcats and chainsaws. 5 McMansions went up just two
doors away and one of them bought their own bobcat for "fun". He drives it
every day that weather permits and moves his soil from one spot to another
(for 2 years now). Everybody in the neighborhood thinks he's an "awesome"
gardener. My 16 year old calls him a "Lego" gardener. She said the way he
has flattened his land like a pancake and then built a berm around the
entire perimeter reminds her of building a Lego home and putting all those
stiff little trees in a line around the exterior.

The home next to that one has spent over six figures on landscaping in the
past year. That's what I put as a down payment on my house. I've never seen
them outside with their hands in the dirt but they are pouring money into
the industry and paying a landscape architect each step of the way.

As for teenagers not eating vegetables out of the dirt??? Not here on Long
Island. Surrounded by teens who think Coach and Abercrombie are THE way of
life, I still see them interested in the garden. Local high-school kids are
in my yard all the time and constantly comment how they love to be here. My
daughters friends will go pick blackberries and come in with about a cup
full for me but their lips are stained purple :-) The same goes for
strawberries, peas, snap beans and they eat cherry tomatoes like they are
candy.

The saddest thing around here is several local nurseries have closed down.
Land is worth so much that they can sell it to a developer and move to a
less expensive area. Yesterday I went to Sears and Home Depot in search of a
good cultivator. Couldn't find one in either location, they only had one
type to choose from and I didn't like what they had. It was only a few years
ago that I could go to a local store and have a choice of  3 or 4 different
cultivators, long handled, short handled, wood or fiberglass.

Only 41 degrees but I need to get outside,
Melanie Vassallo
melaniev@optonline.net

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