Is Gardening Genetic?

In about 1860, my great-great-grandparents showed up in rural Minnesota and started to slowly garden (or farm, as they called it in those days) about 40 acres of property ( I wonder if they got the mule with that?).

Flash forward to the modern world. My sister is in Costa Rica growing coffee. My mother grows 200 varieties of Dahlias every summer and makes the neighbors look stupid. And I…

Well, I have Ninety-three acres of jungle in Belize where I grow about 50 species of fruit trees and 3000 species of native plants. I have a greenhouse in St. Paul where I pick fresh Kumquats and tomatoes all winter. And then I have my little neighborhood lot where I try to fit in with my container gardening obsession when everyone else has neatly manicured lawns and perfectly placed hostas (my driveway looks like a plant sale in the summer.) My garage is full of plants too cold to grow here; they long to get out into the open spaces again (the peaches are blooming inside there right now!) And all this activity is a lot of physical work.

Why do I do it then? Is it genetic? Is there some sort of farm gene running around inside my blood that says "Time to plant an orchard"?

I wish I could answer that because then maybe I could stop. Maybe some kind of stem cell transplant could grow me an extra brown thumb. Maybe there is a medication that could be developed to make me plant bushes outside my windows that never need to be tended or watered.

But until then I am stuck with what I have – an endless struggle against nature to grow things in an increasingly techno-fied world. I don't know if it is good or bad. I don't know if I am saving the planet from greenhouse gases or wasting precious water reserves. But I do know that gardening makes me happy, and happiness is okay once in a while.

Preston, you seem to find an interest in home
gardening like myself. My question on Google was what is a good time to plant tomatillos outside?
This was my first year trying them and all I see are little yellow flowers and no fruit. These plants were at least 2 months grown when I planted them, now its August 15, 06 you'd think I
would see something. Do they have a dormant stage
for a year? Man, they're 5 ft tall anyway.
Hope to hear from ya, THANKS Kurt Drew