Garden Envy
Confession: if you are already harvesting squash, I don’t like you. Well, okay, maybe I like you but I’m mad at you. After all, I blog about gardening. I take pretty pictures of plants. And yet, my entire nectarine tree is covered in brown rot, the beans are holier than the Virgin Mary, and my summer squash plants will not grow. The climbing Italian summer squash from Renee’s Garden Seeds is doing awesome, but the generic yellow squash that everyone and their grandma grows is not. This happened last summer as well, which I thought was a fluke because two summers ago I had a bumper crop of squash.
As with any hobby, it is easy to let envy rob you of your own personal enjoyment of gardening. I must step back and remember that half the excitement for me is problem solving. So what if the squash aren’t growing! How about hit up the farmer’s market, buy some squash and talk to the grower? Chances are, unless it’s the daughter-in-law of the cousin of the farmer, the vendor might know a thing or two. Can you guess where I will be heading this weekend? That’s right. The farmer’s market.
While I might be envying my buddies’ squash and zucchini crops and my neighbor’s super tall corn, they might secretly be envying my blue potatoes, or my purple basil, or my purple asparagus, or my red okra. I do like my weird colors! Here’s to celebrating the growing season and our friends’ successes!
5 Comments
Cheri back to larkrise
Holier then the Virgin Mary! That's Holy.Lol Take heart you are in a battle when you garden. There will be casualties. No reason possibly friendly fire(too much water) but you go on and keep your head up high! Give some plants back to nature for snacks and count your small victories. That's what a gardener is a humble servant of nature sometime,Cheri
paige.puckett
Cheri, I think it is friendly fire. My garden sits in a low spot and never seems to dry out, yet still I water. I'll lay off the hose awhile and see what happens.
The Conservationist
my friend and I decided, since she's renting a house and I'm renting an apartment and I have no direct sunlight to my tiny patio, we would plant a patio garden in containers and put them on her front porch. well, our squash and zucchini died this week. all of our taller tomato plants are dying, and only the peppers and small, compact tomatoes are doing okay. they just need bigger containers or a place in the soil to live! we close on our house in 4 weeks, and though I know the sellers would gladly allow me to plant them before we close (they're awesome), we're trying not to spend money until well after closing since it will take most of our savings. UGH!! I'm afraid our other tomatoes will die by then. So sad. So I'm with ya on the squash thing.
Paige
Danielle, that's so frustrating! I tried a better boy in a pot onces and only got a single tomato. I think a bird finally got it before it ripened. Just think, there's still plenty you can do later in the summer and fall. You're going to LOVE it.
Diana
Process, it's all process. To focus on the outcome — there lies madness (and frustration). 99 degrees here in Memphis — no rain in sight, bees won't pollinate when it's this hot. Now we know why everyone left on the Oregon Trail to the west coast. I think I'll plant sweet potatoes and more okra — they love the heat and nothing seems to get them down.