I was feeling pretty low about my balcony greens and blogging for the past week. And this picture pretty much sums up the feeling.
Didn’t really want to write about anything. Come on, what’s there to write about? The snake beans are going haywire and with no sign of flowering still, plus the freakish weather is causing alot of leaves to turn yellow and drop off. The death toll of the cherry tomatoes flowers are hitting 5 by now. My dill is turning yellow at an alarming rate and there’s nothing new to grow cos I am still trying to collect recycled containers from around the house to use as pots.
This all accumulated to the sinking feeling that I just suck at growing stuff. Simply clueless about watering, soil conditions & quantity needed, fertilization, plant preferences, etc…
But I was reading through Kate’s article one day and this occured to me. When you garden and blog, you are not alone. Gardeners are kind folks who don’t laugh at you and encourage you along the way. Many thanks and virtual hugs to Kate, Wilson, Christina, Patrick, Rowena, Christi and recently, Joco, who all have helped me along the way with your comments, your words of encouragement, advise and tips.
So my snake beans are out of control, other stuff are turning yellow, but I learn right? I’ve learnt not to overcrowd my seeds anymore, learnt about the different types of soil, plant preferences, etc. And I should always continue to keep trying and learning along the way. So even starting all over again, finding less ambitious seeds to grow… even growing a small pot of basil is something for a brown thumb like me.
If not for blogging, I would be growing my greens alone and would have given up sooner, and resigned myself to the fact that I kill plants, once again. So I am giving my thanks now for technological advances, for nice folks and kind friends from other parts of the world that I would never have dreamt about making otherwise, if not for blogging.
I will never grow alone again.
All images from I Has A HotDog. Check it out! It’s simply too cute. Guaranteed to lighten up some gardening blues.
6 comments
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March 30, 2008 at 5:53 am
Kate
Don’t give up Teresa. Anyway your beans sound like they will flower soon – growing food takes a long time – months – just to get 1 bean. It makes you realise what it must be like for farmers who rely on getting their income from spending most of a year growing eg wheat and then some storm or drought comes along and wipes out the lot. Next year, they do it all again!
The beautiful photos I put on my blog are there to encourage me, as much as anything else because, like you I have complete failures too. And sometimes I want to give up too -really, no joke – but then the littlest successes are so much sweeter and I get all excited again! Skippity doo! Recently one of my chooks got out and dug up a whole patch of seedlings that I had nurtured through all that heat wave ! **^%# ! You just have to re-sow and start again. Maybe a visit to Wilson’s garden and a chat with him would be helpful to you. Why don’t you send him a message – he seems ever so friendly and nice.
March 31, 2008 at 6:42 am
Wilson Wong
Hi Teresa,
If I got a sunny balcony like yours, I would also be growing vegetables as you. Maybe next time if I move?
But at the mean time, keep your head and spirits up. We never say that balcony gardening especially in edibles growing is easy. Every mistake means a potential lesson learnt. Blogging it out in the open is a good way were fellow gardeners can point out help us learn. Experimenting with different types of plants will let us know what’s easy suitable and what’s not.
The current weather is exceptionally detrimental to apartment gardeners due to the lack of direct sunshine that is required for growing plants well on the already sunlight deprived balcony.
Watch the weather pattern and note it down. It will help you to plant again next year.
March 31, 2008 at 11:50 am
Christina
Oh friend. Gardening means there as many failures as successes. It also requires lots and lots of time. Five fallen flowers on one cherry tomato is nothing–you’ve got lots of time for it to continue to bloom and set fruit. The beans, well, I think you’ll get some of them soon, too.
I like the advice that both Kate and Wilson give. Good luck, keep trying, and hang on to the feeling of how fun it is to see that first sprout push the earth aside.
April 1, 2008 at 4:36 am
rowena
Teresa, I know exactly where you’re coming from, but just hang in there and plant some more! At this point I’m HOPING those tomato seeds that I ordered from BC Heirloom will grow. I have a tendency to want to give things too much water.
Anyway, about this whole blogging thing, I started it as a personal journal of sorts, then switched over to food, and now I feel inclined to take on gardening. It’s not that I don’t love the foodie group, but it is much, much more encouraging and enjoyable to read what other garden bloggers are up to in their neck of the woods. Food, nah, a whole lot of uber-styled pictures to excite the masses but with gardening, to be able to stick with it and grow something from a tiny seed is the ultimate accomplishment.
April 1, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Teresa
Hi all! You know, the next time I feel down about my growing stuff again, I will come back to this post and read through all your comments again and feel all better already.
I’ve said this over and over, but thank you so much for coming by and spending some time to type your encouragement and advise. Muak!
Kate – Yes, farmers are not the lowest rank of the career chain. They feed all of us and we should give them the respect that they deserve. Oh shucks about the chicken, it’s the “don’t know whether to laugh or to cry” part. Bad chicken!
Wilson – Heads up, got it! Thank you so much for all the advise along the way. You have such a great community garden! You don’t need a balcony!
Christine – Right, I’ll hang on to that feeling. Bit by bit, it’ll be the first sprout, the first flower and before I know it, the first fruit! Thanks!
Rowena – Yes, to grow something from a tiny seed is the ultimate accomplishment! You said it right! Grow sister grow! I wanna see more pictures!
April 2, 2008 at 7:12 am
Wilson Wong
Hi Teresa,
Gardening in the community garden is kind of different from gardening at the balcony. I still yearn for the close proximity of a balcony garden!
Wilson