Garden Ups and Downs
It's a rainy and overcast sort of day and it's forecast to stay that way. I guess that provides an excellent backdrop for the way I'm feeling right now.
I suppose I am more than a little ready for a break from the garden.
Overall things are highly positive but I think that I, like other overly sensitive and perfectionist people, can easily let small things derail them.
My garden is certainly growing well and I have things planned out and that this point my garden will be full past capacity, which is strange to me because last year I would not have expected my zeal would have let me to this point. Later this week I will need to plant and also give away patty pan squash, cantaloupe, spaghetti squash, and maybe sunflowers and some tomatoes. I also have the reaming yellow squash and okra that my mom gave me but we are letting those do their own thing for a while.
I literally have about 10 different types of plants that by all appearances are doing very well. My corn popped up beautifully, my cowpeas have finally shown up, kentucky wonders are being wonderful, my rutabaga are going to seed (as I wanted them to), my broccoli and collards are growing well as is my lettuce, pak choi, onions, peas, and such. My radishes, carrots, and arugala are so-so but I've not done all that well with those in the spring historically anyway. At least they popped up.
Even with garden maintenance I seem to be doing well keeping weeds and such at bay.
Right now my strawberries are not producing very well. I'm not sure what I can do to help them along. I've tried to keep them uncovered as much as I can but the birds can make quick work of whatever fruit is ripe.
Also, my tomatoes and peppers that I've planted in the back garden appear to have little spots on them which may be a fungus. It is very moist right now and it's been very rainy. The ones that I started and am keeping in the front look fine. So, I think since I am running out of room anyway that I will keep the rest of my tomatoes in the front yard, growing them in pots, and hoping for the best on their progress. That way, I will still have a crop if it truly is a fungus that the plants cannot resist and I don't have to stress about the space.
Either way, its' a win-win. Or lose-win - we'll find out as the garden season progresses.
As a perfectionist I struggle with sharing and processing moments of "failure" because I internalize them too much. I hope that, like running track when I was in high school, growing a garden will help me to learn that you don't have to be good at something to enjoy it. Also, bugs, disease, weather can work for and against all gardeners. Some of it is me but some of it is not. And I guess as a beginner, it makes it even more okay for there to be some issues. Truthfully this is only my third summer with a garden and my first with a garden anywhere near this size.
You live and learn.
There are always ups and downs.
Take care,
Rebecca
I suppose I am more than a little ready for a break from the garden.
Overall things are highly positive but I think that I, like other overly sensitive and perfectionist people, can easily let small things derail them.
My garden is certainly growing well and I have things planned out and that this point my garden will be full past capacity, which is strange to me because last year I would not have expected my zeal would have let me to this point. Later this week I will need to plant and also give away patty pan squash, cantaloupe, spaghetti squash, and maybe sunflowers and some tomatoes. I also have the reaming yellow squash and okra that my mom gave me but we are letting those do their own thing for a while.
I literally have about 10 different types of plants that by all appearances are doing very well. My corn popped up beautifully, my cowpeas have finally shown up, kentucky wonders are being wonderful, my rutabaga are going to seed (as I wanted them to), my broccoli and collards are growing well as is my lettuce, pak choi, onions, peas, and such. My radishes, carrots, and arugala are so-so but I've not done all that well with those in the spring historically anyway. At least they popped up.
Even with garden maintenance I seem to be doing well keeping weeds and such at bay.
Right now my strawberries are not producing very well. I'm not sure what I can do to help them along. I've tried to keep them uncovered as much as I can but the birds can make quick work of whatever fruit is ripe.
Also, my tomatoes and peppers that I've planted in the back garden appear to have little spots on them which may be a fungus. It is very moist right now and it's been very rainy. The ones that I started and am keeping in the front look fine. So, I think since I am running out of room anyway that I will keep the rest of my tomatoes in the front yard, growing them in pots, and hoping for the best on their progress. That way, I will still have a crop if it truly is a fungus that the plants cannot resist and I don't have to stress about the space.
Either way, its' a win-win. Or lose-win - we'll find out as the garden season progresses.
As a perfectionist I struggle with sharing and processing moments of "failure" because I internalize them too much. I hope that, like running track when I was in high school, growing a garden will help me to learn that you don't have to be good at something to enjoy it. Also, bugs, disease, weather can work for and against all gardeners. Some of it is me but some of it is not. And I guess as a beginner, it makes it even more okay for there to be some issues. Truthfully this is only my third summer with a garden and my first with a garden anywhere near this size.
You live and learn.
There are always ups and downs.
Take care,
Rebecca
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