Here in the frozen far north I ts time to plan the garden. (Actually we're not really that far north but it's stupid cold in Canada because of ocean currents or something)
I find planning my garden scratches the same itch as building a character. Planning what to plant, spacings, companion planting, looking through seed catalogs is like poring through the PHB looking at classes, races, skill trees and feats. And God help you if you end up digging through the splat books. The online forums are great for looking up builds for either characters or gardens.
So naturally with all the similarities I have to ask, if my garden was a character what would it be?
I'm thinking a half-orc Barbarian. I say this because I am growing some monster vegetable's. 16 foot sunflower's, 30 pound squash, a bunch of pumpkins, including the Adlantic giant which can get up to 1700 pounds. Those are the big hits that barbs can do. We use mulch to avoid weeding and no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. So no spells or armor. We have a good amount of garlic it's actully our main crop by serving and have a good crop of kitchen greens, peppers, carrots, beats, you know garden stuff. So he's wolf totem (helps the party) with a good variety of skills and high wisdom. (He might also be Drow instead of half-orc, since we as always choose a red or purple variety of we can.).
If it was Amber he would have a lot in strength, but we won't know if he's first until we see how big those pumpkins get.
Any other gardeners out there? It must be harvest time in Uraguay.
Those are dire sunflowers! What's the heftiest pumpkin you've grown?
You are right about the pre-planning / pre-campaign of creating a garden vs. creating a character (or campaign). There's definitely crossover.
Didn't weigh it but over 50 pounds. We grew some squash as big last year too.
We have a second garden this year much bigger than the first so we are trying some new and ridiculous vegetable's. Like the dire sunflower's. We'll see how it goes.
I live in Calgary, so we get winter cold interspersed with warm periods from Chinook winds. Currently it's a balmy -18 Celsius (0F). As for gardening, based on our tomato and bell pepper harvest, our garden is definitely a bard. Lots of bright colors. Next year I want to make a pasta sauce from the yellow tomatoes and some peppers and maybe get some squid ink pasta to serve it on to emphasize the color contrast.
I'm not a gardener, but it's pretty much ALWAYS harvest time in Uruguay. There's produce the year round.
Mine would be Batman wizard. A lot of everything, some of it haphazardly planted, some of it very orderly. I normally do tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, cucumbers, sunflowers. I rotate in some other things as I desire. Last year it was purple potatoes. A smattering of herbs here and there. I have perennial plots of rhubarb, strawberries, and oregano. Often zucchini.
I should move. I miss summer.
My sister lives in Calgary. She had rosemary that did very well.
Raleel what city do you live in. I'm hoping Canadian, so far we have two gardener both Canadian, with 3 we can call it a trend.
Quote from: Headless;1022740I should move. I miss summer.
My sister lives in Calgary. She had rosemary that did very well.
Raleel what city do you live in. I'm hoping Canadian, so far we have two gardener both Canadian, with 3 we can call it a trend.
Washington state, about 4 or so hours from the border. actually approximately the same latitude as Montreal.
The pressure to have a garden reduces when you have a farmer's market every week two doors from your house.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1022985The pressure to have a garden reduces when you have a farmer's market every week two doors from your house.
I find that having a couple close means that I tune what I have in my garden. Some things are just not worth planting.
This last year, though, I broke my rule and planted potatoes.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1022985The pressure to have a garden reduces when you have a farmer's market every week two doors from your house.
In a well functioning market economy each of us should do what we enjoy or are good at. I like growing garlic, thats why I do it.
Actully now I am picturing you running a weekly game, one of your players arrived with a carton of eggs, one a pouch of tabbaco, a basket overflowing with tomatoes, an eggplant.
Quote from: Headless;1023348In a well functioning market economy each of us should do what we enjoy or are good at. I like growing garlic, thats why I do it.
Actully now I am picturing you running a weekly game, one of your players arrived with a carton of eggs, one a pouch of tabbaco, a basket overflowing with tomatoes, an eggplant.
Nah. People bring drinks, sometimes little snacks, and then we have our pick of like, 70 local restaurants full of good food. I live in a neighborhood now nicknamed "Montevideo's Soho".
Any one else have a problem with sugar at their table? One of my groups brings. Skittles, star bursts, jelly beans. About the healthiest thing at the table is chocolate. Its a problem.
Game day is definitely anyone on a diet's 'cheat day.' The candy, pop, and fatty-carb snack food ratio is high. In both my groups, I am 1 of 2 not-significantly-overweight people, and there's a reason for that.
My "garden" is only "the herbs that I grow in plant pots", so I guess it should be a Wizard;)!
Yes, game night is definitely the cheat day. I try to go light before hand
Usually I plan dinner into the game session. Sure there is junk food, but I prefer real food. Usually something meat and pasta. Pasta is easy and can be prepared before hand, and I'll often assemble it before company comes over so I can bake it as a casserole in the roaster. It's usually vegetarian because I live with one, so lots of veggies and fortunately cheese is good. For everyone else who are carnivorous like myself, I roast something. I keep stuff in the deep freeze for this purpose unless I find something nice at work. It's kind of handy when you get along with the meat cutters. I have several hams, though sometimes I make something beef or even turkey, the latter of which is often in the form of ground thigh made into meatballs.
In the summer, the pasta casserole becomes a salad. And there is often some sort of greenish salad to go with it, because garden. Nothing green and leafy though because I can't eat anything with nonsoluable fiber. But something like a Capresse salad is common. I'll make dips as well, and have a manual chopper than can make stuff like guacamole and salsa in under 50 cranks of the handle. :D
If you plan a meal to go with the game, it goes a long way to mitigating bad food choices. As well if your game table is properly fed, then the game tends to not crash in time with blood sugar levels.
Just eat whatever the fuck you like.
I have a large garden and many fruit trees. How to care for them in the spring?
My folks used to have a semi-little harden taking up most of the back yard. Eventually they stopped and never knew why. One relative they'd visit once a year grew giant greenbeans. The things were like a foot or two long!
One other set of relatives started the proverbial market in a barn that eventually became a grocery store and then moved out of the barn-turned-store into a real store built off from the barn. Which remained as the open produce area. They also own a pretty big farm. Cattle for milk, and bot sure what else really.
Grandparents have close connections with the local Amish community. Fresh eggs and other produce. Think they bought more from them that the relatives with a store.
Great grandparents built their house themselves way in the middle of no-where up in the mountains. Overlooking a cliff on one side and a little chicken farm off and not sure what else before endless forest. I assume the place was originally self sufficient or nearly so. Also formerly a fishing pond they built and stocked. But was later destroyed by persons unknown. Mysterious caves below and a natural spring out of the side of the cliff. Crank phone and not sure if the place had any electricity at all or other utilities. All I ever remember were oil lamps. Place was straight out of Lovecraft.
Two players of mine retired gaming pretty much after acquiring farms as it took up so much of their time.
This is something most city folk don't realize. A farm life can take up alot of your time. Alot! Small backyard farms are relatively easy and low maintenance depending on the type. But the bigger ones you can kiss your free time goodbye! Especially if animals are involved.
It is no wonder some want to break away and become adventurers!
Then theres game hunting. This was one that surprised me but theres actually some thought and management needed to make a good game forest to attract the right animals.
If you plant zucchini, try to be sparing. Zucchini is, honest to God, a reincarnated weed. Damn stuff will grow almost anywhere.
For a D&D class, my garden would definitely be a Magic User. I put things in the ground and weird shit grows out of it. Sometimes it feels like someone has rolled on a random D20 table to see what appears, but its probably down to the fact that I rarely label anything and then forget what I planted where! I spend a lot of time in the garden and for some reason I'm obsessed with composting.
Dragon had over the decades a few articles on weird gardens and strange plants. And some modules features such locales too. And Dungeon of course had a few farm or garden based adventures as well.
There was also an Ares article for Gamma Worlds moon which featured a botanical dome full of mutated plants. Gamma World itself is pretty much one big mutated garden where everything and its seedling wants to eat you. And eventually had the option for plant PCs via optional rules or Dragon articles.
We have a gnome cleric garden!
It's tiny and full of medicinal plants, and the garlic turns the undead!
LA is weird. Its an urban blight, but there's good farmland within two hours so we are spoiled with farmer's markets, including specialty stores that stock nothing but small farm produce. Still, it's nice to have basil, rosemary and chives growing on the balcony that can be instantly added to chow.
Quote from: Omega;1126996There was also an Ares article for Gamma Worlds moon which featured a botanical dome full of mutated plants. Gamma World itself is pretty much one big mutated garden where everything and its seedling wants to eat you. And eventually had the option for plant PCs via optional rules or Dragon articles.
What issue of Ares?
I love, love, love the mutant plant options in Gamma World. There's something awesome about combat vs. terrain and as GM, designing the symbiosis/competition between plants and beasts and how the sapient beings use the mutant plants.
Quote from: Spinachcat;1127105What issue of Ares?
I love, love, love the mutant plant options in Gamma World. There's something awesome about combat vs. terrain and as GM, designing the symbiosis/competition between plants and beasts and how the sapient beings use the mutant plants.
It was Dragon #86, "A World Gone Mad" by James M. Ward. Fantastic article!
Quote from: RPGPundit;1022985The pressure to have a garden reduces when you have a farmer's market every week two doors from your house.
I wish this was us. We have about a 30 minute drive to get to a farmers market. If it were that close for us we could nearly forgo the grocery store.
Both Dark Albion and Lion & Dragon have an extensive section on medicinal herbs and poisons.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1127395Both Dark Albion and Lion & Dragon have an extensive section on medicinal herbs and poisons.
Based on real world plants or fantastical creations? Or a mix?
Quote from: Spinachcat;1127396Based on real world plants or fantastical creations? Or a mix?
Based on real-world plants and poisons, and alchemical (really, chemical) formulas.
We stull have alot of Kats old hand made spices she got from around the world. She used to hit up a Chinese market for her herbs and spices to make all sorts of combinations. Sadly most of it too much for me. Luckily she put the recipes/mixtures on the sides of the jars.
Making one's own spice mixes is a pleasant kind of alchemy. I quite enjoy it myself.