Has anyone ever ......

[Old chef]

Hello
Wondering if anyone has ever taken a Sabbatical ? I am a chef. Truly passionate about tomatoes. I grow about 70 plants each year. 20 + varieties in addition to everything else.
I'm considering a complete season of solorizing. rebuild soil. Vacationing etc...
Taking a break.

Is there life after .....?


Old chef

[PaulF]

I once thought about taking a year off. The closer it got to starting seeds the worse I felt. When my wife asked when I was going to get started, that did it. Down into the basement and the year began. Could not even skip one year.

[GrowingCoastal]

[maxjohnson]

I can't. Because of my heart condition, I don't expect to live to 120. There aren't a lot of tomato seasons in a lifetime, so I have to make the best of it. But for me, through putting back organic matters and compost yearly, I don't think I have to worry about depleting the soil as much.

[slugworth]

I had 2 surgeries in the summer of 2015 so the only plants I had were a few "volunteers"
from the compost pile.
I think they were offspring of the german johnson.It was a drought year and I was away
for weeks without watering them and they still survived.
Ditto.

[brownrexx]

Why not just cut back to a few plants? I don't think that you would like not having a garden at all. I wouldn't.

[Labradors2]

How about growing a few compacts in containers? At least you would still get a few tomatoes to see you through. I'm sure you would miss them too much! I know that I would...…

Linda

[jtjmartin]

I thought about taking a year off as I pulled a bunch of squash plants this morning - it's so hot, the insects are munching on me and the maters, it takes so much time . . .

But this is usually the way I feel in the Fall. I'm ready for a slow descent into winter.

But then winter lasts way too long - I miss the smell of dirt, sunshine on my bald head - and usually I grow more tomatoes than I did the year before.

I would say - if you feel the same way after a Long Island winter - it's probably a good indicator to take a year off!

[Fred Hempel]

Absolutely!

I think it is a great idea. I have taken them out of necessity, and come back refreshed.

Originally Posted by Old chef

Hello
Wondering if anyone has ever taken a Sabbatical ? I am a chef. Truly passionate about tomatoes. I grow about 70 plants each year. 20 + varieties in addition to everything else.
I'm considering a complete season of solorizing. rebuild soil. Vacationing etc...
Taking a break.

Is there life after .....?


Old chef

[DonDuck]

So long as I am alive and able, I will be working on something. Even in the dead of winter I will be in the shop sorting seed. I can't not be working on something. I use the winter to repair or service my power tools or I may have a project too finish on the house.

Last night, it was still over ninety degrees outside. Our air conditioner was set at seventy nine degrees. My wife commented that the house was beginning to feel stuffy. I looked at the thermostat and it showed eighty three degrees in the house. I looked out the window and could see the condenser fan was not spinning, but the air handler was running fine in the house. I couldn't imagine why my brand new system would not turn on. I started checking different things and found I couldn't blow through my condensate drain line. My new system has a condensate level switch which shuts the system down if the water in the pan gets up to the switch. I brought my air compressor into the house and taped the compressor hose into the drain like. I heard the blockage blow out of the line and I could hear the water draining from the condensate pan. I dried the switch and switch housing out and the condenser is running great.

There is always something waiting to be done or waiting to fail or break.

[peebee]

I once took a "half break", solarizing and replenishing just half my garden soil. I was thus able to still grow tomatoes but on a smaller scale.
Since I now have enough Earthboxes, I no longer plant everything in ground, and I will spend this fall/winter composting in place, in the unused beds. No more hauling bags of manure & amendments for me, can't do it like I used to.

[Worth1]

All the time, one bed hasn't had anything in it for two years and another spot for at least 3 or 4.

[tarheelchick]

I'm doing that very thing next year. I'm planning to thru hike the entire Appalachian Trail next year (2000+ miles). It will take me about 6 months.

The garden will rest. I will not.

[Old chef]

Thanks for your input.
My main issue is I don't live year round where I have the garden. So, when I get to Long Island for weekends, I am missing too many family outings and events because I am in the Garden.
Sure I love my garden. I have had a garden for at least 50 years. Why doesn't someone invent a perennial tomato? That would save a lot of time!!

Old Chef

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by tarheelchick

I'm doing that very thing next year. I'm planning to thru hike the entire Appalachian Trail next year (2000+ miles). It will take me about 6 months.



The garden will rest. I will not.

Good luck with the hike! It was a dream of our to do this before my husband's knees ended our back packing days.

We used to spend weeks in the spring hiking short sections of the AT in NC, VA and WV. And in the summer we would cover short sections up here in the Whites, checking off as many 4,000 footers as we could work into a seven day loop. Spent many a night sharing shelters and lean-to's with Thru Hikers listening to their trail stories.

You'll have plenty of other things to focus on instead of the garden. I think that's the key to a sabbatical -- plan to fill your days with something you enjoy just as much.