It has become too expensive to cut my grass!

[Rex_Goodheart]

12 bucks to fill up the gas tank of my riding mower.

OK, I'm a lazy bastard who spews CO2 from my lawnmower and weedeater into the atmosphere. I'm not perfect! I at least stopped using my 2-cycle dirt bike.

[Atman]

1. Buy a goat.

When the summer's over, you can eat him!

[Burning Water]

4. Only if

you don't want any trees, bushes, or flowers. And like strongish smells.

[Rex_Goodheart]

8. They're endlessly cute, though..

I do want a goat.

[karlrschneider]

43. I had one for a couple of years...but had to give him away because

he got to bellowing way too loud at daybreak...the neighbors weren't thrilled. But he really was a cute little phart...would put his front feet up on our waist and beg for nummies. And snuggled with the doggies to sleep. ;-)

[ronnykmarshall]

49. We had two when I was in High School.

[gkhouston]

12. buy fainting goats?

startle them when they get near the must-not-eat things and then watch 'em tump over? Entertainment and lawn care in one odiferous package!

[ProdigalJunkMail]

47. fainting goat story...

OK...a tad on the sadistic side...but several years ago my great uncle had a herd of goats...about 50% of them had the gene defect that causes this little touch of narcolepsy...anywho...one day my cousin decides to introduce me to the herd and to make a point, whilst we were standing at the cattle gate that was the entrance to the pasture, he fired a .357 mag into the air and about 40 goats just fell right over...funniest damned thing I have ever seen...especially when a couple of minutes later they were none the worse for wear...

Just a funny thing in the life of a member of a redneck family...

sP

[npincus]

10. the funniest thing I've heard all day!

thanks! (But watch your back for vegetarians)



:rofl:

[madokie]

13. don't laugh but I think thats what we did back in the early 50's

edit to add: the problem with goats they like to jump up on your automobiles, I know. It looks kinda like hell dents with deep scratches thown in for good measure.

[Xenotime]

31. Animals shouldn't be used for work...

[Atman]

34. Oh, sorry. He could buy an illegal Mexican immigrant then!

This IS America, after all. We have to keep our priorities straight!

BTW, just out of curiousity...does a goat consider it "work" to stand around all day eating grass? Isn't that what they do anyway? Or is their natural habitat actually hanging out on Caribbean beaches sipping margaritas?

[burythehatchet]

40. If eating is work I want that job.

[Burning Water]

48. Who says?

Why not?

[DS1]

2. Unless you have a medical problem or own more than 2 acres

Riding mowers are just lazy anyway. All you have to do these days is walk behind mowers, you don't even have to push.

[sweetheart]

30. I can't handle the fuumes from the mowers

I use sheep. They leave a lot of shit around, but
its good for the plants... they eat *everything* not
as bad as a goat, but don't expect roses to survive.
If it can't be eaten, sheep use it as a backscratcher.

I think they've come on to the idea down tucson way,
a front lawn full of stones and a few cacti... heck,
one could always paint the stones green if the colour
is critical.

[Haole Girl]

3. I have an electric lawn mower

of course, the bottom line isn't much more environmentally friendly. I just always hated keeping cans of gasoline around. The only drawback is you have to be careful not to cut the cord while you mow! They work great, though. So quiet you can cut the yard in the morning without waking up all the neighbors, too.

[Botany]

5. Kill it and Plant it in a prairie

Much better.

[bloom]

15. that's the best thing to do anyway

[Justpat]

6. Plant wildflowers in your front yard. n/t

[Shipwack]

28. Good idea, if the town allows it...

Several years ago a woman in Groton(?) Connecticut got fined by the town for doing just that. I also doubt that most home owner association boards would allow it either. :/

[SmokingJacket]

46. The nerve of those associations, telling people what they can

grow in their yards!

Remind me never to move to one of those obsessive compulsive lawn-worshipping neighborhoods...

The fad in my neighborhood is to pull up the grass and replace it with wood chips, rocks, and plants. Looks great! I'm going to do that, too, when my kids are bigger...

[Geoff R. Casavant]

7. Get one of those old fashioned mowers

Just two wheels, a cylinder of blades, and a long handle -- works on people power, and no nasty emissions except your own when you push it up a hill. Makes for a healthier lawn too.

[Rex_Goodheart]

9. Makes for a healthier Rex, too...

if it doesn't kill me.

[electron_blue]

19. That's what I have. If you keep the blades sharp, it's as easy as

pushing/walking behind a normal gaspowered mower.

[RaleighNCDUer]

25. I used one of those for years - old fashioned steel blade thing.

Weighed a ton and a half.

But they do make new ones with light weight, aluminum blades. And there is no better aerobic excercise than cutting with a non-motored push-mower.

[hfojvt]

29. I used one for my first two summers, except when mulching leaves

the main drawback was that I have alot of sticks in my yard so it was constantly getting stuck. Plus with the gas mower I can cut every two weeks instead of every week. I have about half an acre of lawn.

[libnnc]

33. I bought one from Sears about 10 years ago

It was less than $100 really cheap. We have a very small front yard and just woods (jungle) in the back. I used to use it because I have a fear of gas lawn mowers (dont laugh--long story). Now we are using it almost exclusively.

[htuttle]

11. $12 to fill up your riding mower?

Wow, I can only fit about $2.00 in the gas tank of my scooter, and that gives me almost 3 weeks of commuting to work.

How big is your lawn?

[Rex_Goodheart]

18. It's an acre...

Too much for an old man like me...

I'm gonna sell this place, I think.

[Minnesota Libra]

14. I like the "Atman" idea, in fact you and your neighbors could.............

....buy a goat and share him/her and never have to mow your lawn again either.

If the goat isn't realistic then what about a big rock garden or even cactus??

[AbbyR]

35. I tried the goat idea once ...

as I have a huge yard. I couldn't keep the goats in the yard (and you should have seen me bringing them home from Little Rock in the back of my Volkswagen Rabbit.) They kept wandering off, or big dogs chased them, but I dearly loved them: Heidi, Johannes, Diana and - I can't remember the last one.

I may have to try again, however, as I'm too old and arthritic to handle it with a gas mower and I can't afford at riding mower.

[400Years]

16. one day our cities will turn into jungles

[Viva_La_Revolution]

20. oh darn. no more artificially manicured / fertilized / pesticided

status symbols.

Just wild growing, natural jungles. oh darn. :evilgrin:

[400Years]

24. sounds pretty cool, huh.

I'm into it.

[CottonBear]

17. The American Lawn Mower Company makes a modern reel mower.

It is lightweight and made of modern materials. You just start pushing it about! It is non-polluting and makes little to no noise! I purchased one at an Ace Hardware back in the mid 1980s. I love it! They have many models for different kinds of grass and even a kid sized one!

There are electric mowers as well but I would go with the reel mower.

link: http://www.reelin.com/

[bloom]

21. How much are you mowing?

What's the point?

Does the lawn serve any purpose? A lot people refer to them as industrial lawns.


They are a wasteland as far as birds and butterflies and just about anything else goes.

[madokie]

22. give the snakes and such a pass, no thanks i'll mow

[grasswire]

32. snakes?

I knew there was a reason to live in the city.

[AbbyR]

36. Now I remember why I need to mow.

I HATE snakes!

[madokie]

39. I can't even look at a picture without getting the heebeegeebees

know what I mean

[Dr. Jones]

23. Save Gas - XERISCAPE

Xeriscaping - or ripping out your lawn and replacing it with rocks - is not as popular in the North but is very popular in the South and Southwest. You can do all sorts of things with xeriscaping - plant different plants in amongst the rocks, trees, shrubs, etc. It's a great way to cut down on gas consumption, save money, and best of all: No grass to cut!
:bounce:

[Jersey Devil]

26. Same problem with my yact - costs too much to gas up

I may have to lay off a steward or a bait bucket changer, or both. Life is tough!

[SammyWinstonJack]

38. !

:evilgrin:

[kenny blankenship]

27. Let it grow and it will miraculously turn into alcohol with which you may

power reciprocating engines (which will miraculously reconfigure themselves to run on ethanol), or alternately you can drink yourself to death. Either way you alleviate your problem of paying for gasoline during the Long War and Bush and the War Lovers can go on having their war(s).
It's win-win, Rex!

[MercutioATC]

37. You need to plant SWITCHGRASS...

Switchgrass!

heh...hmm...heh...switchgrass will solve all of our problems...

Switchgrass!

[TheFarseer]

42. I thought hemp would solve all our problems, no? n/t

[Atman]

45. Sure, if you smoke it.

Then you give a fuck about your lawn!

[TheFarseer]

41. Get a reel mower

No gas, no trouble starting it.

[MadHound]

44. Oh I feel your pain

I've got five acres that I've got to mow, and gas prices are starting to pinch hard. Luckily I stocked up on twenty five gallons of gas when the price was relatively cheap in January, so I'm not too bad off yet. However I'm still thinking about getting a couple of sheep to do the work.;)

One serious alternative that I'll probably follow through on is getting a small JD tractor. I need one for the operation I'm running(orchard, CSA farm, U pick 'em), and both John Deere and New Holland are offering a twenty four horse tractor that not only has a PTO and hydraulics for the front loader, but they also have a finishing mower, six foot deck, that comes with it. And the machine is powered by a diesel engine, which means it will run on biodiesel. Of course this is about a thirteen thousand dollar investment, so it will have to wait a year or so.

So maybe in the meantime I'll get some sheep:evilgrin:

[WI_DEM]

50. I bet old fashioned push mowers will come back in style