Synopsis:
Donald is trying his best to establish a victory garden but the crows are giving him a hard time.

Comments:
Donald sees gardening as an easy task which presents no problems. He sows his seeds and expects to have ripe vegetables after a few days. But he is not prepared for the problems that occur. His lack of patience quickly gets the better of him. Soon he gives up the whole project.
In this, his first ten-pager Barks pretty much follows the normal routines from the comics and the cartoons of those days. The story contains a lot of action and little dialogue, but still he manages to demonstrate in a convincing way how strenuous gardening is. Barks shows Donald digging holes for his seeds and then sowing them, and in the evening he shows an exhausted Donald turning in for the night. Quite realistic.

Synopsis:
Donald intends to join a competition for the best flower garden, and he starts off by purchasing a beehive in order to keep the nephews out of the garden.

Comments:
Donald has ambitions in this story! He is not at all interested in gardening - in fact the garden looks like a battlefield, because the nephews are playing in it - but after reading in the newspaper about a prize for the best flower garden, he aims at having the very best flower garden in Duckburg.
Barks does not show Donald driven by sheer inclination but by the possibility of earning something. Donald's driving force is the competing element. It comes as a small surprise that Barks in the closing of the story ends by having the garden look as bad as it did in the beginning. Donald can't win. And why should he? He displays no real interest for gardening...

Synopsis:
Donald gets tired of working in his garden and he decides to install a swimming pool instead.

Comments:
Right from the start it is clear that Donald hates gardening, despite the fact that he has actually grown a well-organized and thriving one! But he is no longer prepared to adjust to the fact that a garden needs care and attention, so he solves the task of weeding and spraying bugs by effectively removing Mother Nature from his premises. Concrete is poored all over his garden area and a maintenance-free swimming pool is installed. However, this step causes him even bigger problems, so in the end he caves in and reinstalls the garden - the lesser of the two evils...
Barks shows a Donald who is governed by his own impatience. He is incapable of understanding the benefits of longterm perspectives in a project, and when it runs off track, he loses interest. Donald always has lots of big ideas in the stories, but he often lacks the endurance to carry them through.

Synopsis:
Donald decides to beautify his backyard but there are gophers, worms and birds with different ideas...

Comments:
Every springtime Donald is filled to the beak with good intentions of establishing a nice garden. It is not an ambitious plan but he is up against a worthy opponent - Mother Nature herself.
Donald always lacks endurance in the activities he undertakes - in this case gardening. He starts off with flying colours but he is not willing to face up to realities when everything fail to live up to his expectations. He lives in a dream and is not able to differentiate between his rosy dreamworld and the bleak realities. Still, Donald carries on, because he has a cause; to win the war against the gophers and the other atrocities that occur along the way. The trivial art of gardening is conveniently forgotten...
Barks is giving a splendid lecture in the course of nature in this story. The lesson is so clear that even small children should be able to catch the message: Man can decide, but Nature rules.

Synopsis:
Donald longs to win a prize for his apples at the county fair and he is nursing them all summer long. But his neighbour is Gladstone!

Comments:
The story takes off by presenting Donald as a somewhat dedicated gardener who wants to grow first class apples. But he lacks the basic skills to see the project through. He tries his best repeatedly, but it is to no avail; he only reaps negative results.
As the story progresses it becomes clear that Donald is focusing more on another stimulus: to win over Gladstone. This is really the reason why Donald continues his fight against all odds - he is a competition buff by nature.
Barks describes a compliant Donald with great patience, which is uncharacteristic for Donald and his usual short-temper. Still, it can be explained, because he has to stay on top of things, if he is going to have a chance to win the prize he has set out to get.

Synopsis:
Donald is embarrassed being an ignoramus about flowers and he decides to be an expert on the subject.

Comments:
From the beginning it is clear that Donald knows absolutely nothing about flowers, but, nevertheless, he starts off as a self-appointed garden specialist. Soon it becomes evident - even to Donald himself - that he has bitten off more than he can chew, and he succumbs to the fact that hastily gathered knowledge cannot compete with hard-earned experience.
In this story Barks gives another example of Donald's lack of self-criticism and indurance. There can be no doubt about his enthusiasm and willingness to learn, but as soon as things don't go his way, he loses interest - and self-confidence...

Synopsis:
The nephews are playing with balloons while Donald is raking leaves, which are soon scattered all over the garden caused by the nephews' irresponsible play.

Comments:
The story takes place in the autumn and, again, Donald is displeased with his garden. This time he despises the tedious work of raking the leaves from the lawn. Hardly anyone likes that job, but for Donald it is even worse, because it does not suit his temperament, it carries no challenges. Still, he carries on faithfully, doing his task, although he has to start over repeatedly because of the nephews' playing.
In this story, too, Barks plays on Donald's uncharacteristic patience and sense of responsibility beyond the call of duty. It is somewhat surprising to experience him this mellow...