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My own worst enemy

 
gardener
Posts: 1892
Location: N. California
901
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I don't know what is up with me this year. I'm really annoying myself!
First I see a bunch of stink bugs on my squash and I freak out. Spend hours on the internet learning everything I can. Making traps, and spending a lot of time hand picking stink bugs.
Then I have a Tomato that is wilting, and will probably die. I freaked out about that too. Basically handled it the same way.
I worried I'm over watering. Start using a water meter, just  to see first I would do what I normally do to decide if I need to water, then I would check with the meter. Almost every time I was right. I do think I have been over watering a lot of plants. I was just on autopilot, not really paying attention to the details.   I was doubting myself, and dismissing all I have learned over the many years I've been gardening.
Last night I'm in my garden, and it just hits my. I'm driving myself crazy for no reason at all. I manage to grow all kinds of veggies, fruit, herbs and flowers. I grow all this above and beyond organic. I use some organic fertilizer a couple times a year, and don't spray for pest at all. Not organic or other. Besides a little pest damage here and there, and 1 dieing tomato. Everything is growing and producing very well. It's  growing so well I need to get in gear and prune and tie back a bunch of plants because the gardens are totally jungle town. I guess that's why I realized what an idiot I was being. I don't know how to say this without sounding vain, so I'm just going to say it. I'm a good gardener, my garden looks awesome, and I'm incredibly proud of it.
I will still read, and watch videos, and research all kinds of things, because there's always something to learn. Different ways to do things. But I'm going to try to stop second guessing myself. To listen to my own advice and let nature take control. If a tomato dies, or I have some holes in my squash leaves, that's ok. Someone  said (sorry I don't remember who) it's just paying nature's tax.
I'm not posting this to point out what an idiot I've been, or to toot my own horn. I just thought maybe it will help if other people are expecting difficulty in the garden, that shit happens. It's not your fault, and even if it is so what. Learn from our mistakes and keep going.  My daughter would tell me to be nicer to myself, and don't be my own worst enemy, which is not always easy for me, but I will try.
 
pollinator
Posts: 5520
Location: Canadian Prairies - Zone 3b
1518
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I have been growing huge gardens for a while, and I've learned that every year there is going to be "some damn thing" that makes you mental. It's typically something you could not anticipate, comes out of the blue, and is not easy to directly control.

Whatever the particular "some damn thing" might be, it is the sand in your craw that makes you fight twice as hard (and think twice as harder, ha) to pull your plants through. The toughest years are the most memorable.
 
pollinator
Posts: 362
Location: Oz; Centre South
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Best recommendation for these circumstances, Stand Tall and just Breathe
preferably in company with something that has a lemon scent.  My go-to is a Eucalyptus citriodora  aka Corymbia citriodora  (undergoing re-classification)  but an actual lemon is good!
 
Of course, I found a very beautiful couch. Definitely. And this tiny ad:
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https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp
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