Quarantine has taught me important things about myself.

[Terabith]

Like the fact that I don't think gardening is the hobby for me.  My mint all died, and only one out of five tomato plants was at all worthwhile, and the rest of them would somehow all rot even before they got remotely ripe.  A lot of work for not very much reward.  

I think baking is more my speed, but it's not the most healthy one.  

[Pen]

15 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Like the fact that I don't think gardening is the hobby for me.  My mint all died, and only one out of five tomato plants was at all worthwhile, and the rest of them would somehow all rot even before they got remotely ripe.  A lot of work for not very much reward.  

I think baking is more my speed, but it's not the most healthy one.  

 

Circumstance led to problems with my garden this year too.  But I know from the past that I can do it. Maybe best not to make a big conclusion about your abilities based on one year. And at same time, take a moment to appreciate farmers!

[Terabith]

1 minute ago, Pen said:

 

Circumstance led to problems with my garden this year too.  But I know from the past that I can do it. Maybe best not to make a big conclusion about your abilities based on one year. And at same time, take a moment to appreciate farmers!

Definitely!  They are amazing.  

But.....I mean, I couldn't keep MINT alive.  (Catnip, on the other hand, is flourishing.)  

[klmama]

Have you spoken to your gardening neighbors to find out how their gardens fared?  I've found that when I have had a bad year for some type of plant, so did everyone else in the area.   

[Terabith]

21 minutes ago, klmama said:

Have you spoken to your gardening neighbors to find out how their gardens fared?  I've found that when I have had a bad year for some type of plant, so did everyone else in the area.   

That is probably a good idea.  Putin's brother's yard looks phenomenal, though.  

And I got five different tomato plants.  One of them produced prodigious, delicious tomatoes in large quantity, although they were larger than cherry size but not as big as regular sized tomatoes.  There was a dwarf tomato plant that produced some okay tomatoes but they tasted terrible.  And three that all rotted as they ripened.  So maybe it's hyper specialized?  

Likewise, the mint died but the catnip flourished.  

[Guest]

My garden was mostly a failure this year, too. I'm just blaming it on 2020. I have had successful gardens for decades. But this year, everything (except my peppers) was dead or stunted by mid-August. I didn't even have enough tomatoes to can any, and I can't remember any year that was the case. Even my sunflowers were smaller than they should be. I don't know. *shrug* 

[cjzimmer1]

5 minutes ago, Quill said:

My garden was mostly a failure this year, too. I'm just blaming it on 2020. I have had successful gardens for decades. But this year, everything (except my peppers) was dead or stunted by mid-August. I didn't even have enough tomatoes to can any, and I can't remember any year that was the case. Even my sunflowers were smaller than they should be. I don't know. *shrug* 

I wish you lived close enough we could trade.  My peppers were pretty meh this year and my tomatoes are trying to kill me.  I canned enough plain ones to last 3 years, enough salsa for 2 years.  I've dried BUSHELS of slicers and cherries.  I've got at least another canner load in teh freezer (because I just couldn't deal with more canning the day I cooked them up). I've got another bushel sitting on my counter as we speak.  I've reached the point where I just don't care and I'm leaving them out there to rot.  I just can't face any more of them.  Oh and I gave away at least 2-3 bushels to various people already.

Edited September 21, 2020 by cjzimmer1

[PeterPan]

24 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Likewise, the mint died but the catnip flourished. 

Put it by the door where you let the dog out. Mine grows great there.

Of course, I'm not sure whether I'll get to make tea from it ever. 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Put it by the door where you let the dog out. Mine grows great there.

Of course, I'm not sure whether I'll get to make tea from it ever. 

Not exactly the infusion you were going for, eh? 

[Carol in Cal.]

Do what you like, don’t do what you don’t, and trade.

I hate to garden and I have allergies.  I grow fruit trees and give a lot away, but I don’t maintain them like some would.  I do this because it is easy and rewarding.  

I don’t grow arugula because it’s a pain to wash it and it always comes out gritty.  Even though I love it.  

I love it when someone gives me some fresh tomatoes, and they are easy ish so sometimes I plant some, but if I’m not going to be around enough to water them and catch the tomato hornworms, it is what it is.  Etc.

[catz]

We had one our best gardens ever.  We have pumpkins on the vine.  I have absolutely NEVER been able to grow any kind of squash before.  I think for one, we've been home to water more obviously.  Two, we've put compost over our garden the last couple years.  Three - most of our starter plants were from our organic CSA.  They were the healthiest looking starter plants I've ever recieved and they just went nuts once in the ground.  Our tomatoes weren't our best year but peppers and basil and other herbs were crazy.   I had a tomatillo plant go nuts this year too.  I froze enough pesto recently for 5 lbs of pasta.  

The pumpkin plants actually GREW out of our compost and we replanted them to their own bed.  We do have a couple coming out of our compost bins with a couple pumpkins too.  Craziest gardening thing ever.  

I've learned that all of us need to be intentional about chatting and communicating with each other when we're all home (I have 2 teens - one is at college right now but may give up soon lol).  When we're out and about we're more likely to set aside a meal or have a drive where we talk talk talk.  Although, I've noticed my 16 year old is chatting to me much more since her brother left.  

I'm also super grateful for the online opportunities we've had over this time.  That has helped a bunch!  My kid is on a youth council meeting right now, does music online, theater stuff, academic classes.  Good stuff.  

[Pen]

1 hour ago, Terabith said:

Definitely!  They are amazing.  

But.....I mean, I couldn't keep MINT alive.  (Catnip, on the other hand, is flourishing.)  

 

Mint tends to either die, or else become invasive - - not much middle ground.  Needs plenty of water IME  and some varieties tend more to die while others tend to take over.   If you have cats they are probably happy!

[Terabith]

Just now, Pen said:

 

Mint tends to either die, or else become invasive - - not much middle ground.  Needs plenty of water IME  and some varieties tend more to die while others tend to take over.   If you have cats they are probably happy!

I probably didn't give it enough water.  It was in a pot on my deck.  And.....it's possible it's not totally dead.  The bottom part looks like sticks, but there are some blooms up on top I just noticed.  Regardless, it's ugly as sin.  

I've been surprised at how not invested my cats have been in the catnip.  They're definitely catnip reactive, because they love toys and dried catnip, and years ago, I bought a catnip plant, and one cat in particular went insane.  So I actually thought that the plant had been mislabeled, despite it looking exactly like all the catnip pictures on the internet, because neither cat responded at all to the fresh plant I got in March.  So I bought a second catnip plant, only for it also to be ignored.  It's weird.  

I'm tempted to buy a dehydrator, honestly, and see if they only like DRIED catnip.  Or, you know, create my own cat vaping station.  But that seems like quite the commitment for my curiosity.  

[Shoeless]

2 hours ago, Terabith said:

Like the fact that I don't think gardening is the hobby for me.  My mint all died, and only one out of five tomato plants was at all worthwhile, and the rest of them would somehow all rot even before they got remotely ripe.  A lot of work for not very much reward.  

I think baking is more my speed, but it's not the most healthy one.  

 

You might like an Aerogarden.  I decided that outdoor gardening was not for me, (at least not in this part of Texas, where it's either 105 or it's monsooning, and no in between).  I got an Aerogarden for my birthday and it's about where my level of gardening is: I add water and nutrients and set a timer, and bam! I have more Thai and Genovese basil than I know what to do with. 

We've also done well growing microgreens and pea shoots inside.  I'm trying some hydroponic lettuce now, too.  I tried bell peppers, but didn't have luck getting them to produce fruit. I'll have to try again another time. 

[Garga]

3 hours ago, Terabith said:

 A lot of work for not very much reward.  

I think baking is more my speed, but it's not the most healthy one.  

That’s how I feel about gardening, though I’ve only done a little.  I’ve wondered if I’m in a bad spot where I plant so few plants that I have to do a ton of work prepping for them, but there aren’t enough plants to produce a good crop.  

Perhaps there’s a sweet spot where if I planted more plants, the work wouldn’t be exponentially more, but it would yield a better crop.

 

The thing I’ve learned during Covid is that I’m more introverted that I thought. I’ve had to force myself to go to a few backyard get-togethers lately because the more I’m at home alone, the more I want to be at home alone (with the family.)  You’d have thought that being away from my friends would make me miss them and long to get together, but instead a sort of inertia has settled in.

I probably would have felt very differently when the kids were little and wild, but they’re both big now and quiet and pleasant to be around—except for when the 15 yo is hungry and “can’t find anything to eat”, which is about 7 times a day.

[PeterPan]

5 hours ago, Terabith said:

It was in a pot on my deck.

Some mint does ok in full sun, but it tends to be happier in shade. It likes to be invasive and have room to run. You just need a spot where you don't want it to grow and stick it in the ground. You don't even have to coddle it much once it's there.

[Terabith]

Just now, PeterPan said:

Some mint does ok in full sun, but it tends to be happier in shade. It likes to be invasive and have room to run. You just need a spot where you don't want it to grow and stick it in the ground. You don't even have to coddle it much once it's there.

Because of the way our deck is, it had shade for about half the day.  Regardless, I think I might get the aerogarden.  That sounds perfect for my speed.  I found by September I was really resenting dragging out the hose and watering everything every day.  

[PeterPan]

1 minute ago, Terabith said:

Regardless, I think I might get the aerogarden. 

What are you thinking to grow there? Maybe change to fish? A nice betta swimming in an aquarium? 

You know you can buy grow lights on amazon... I assume they have another, ahem, use, something that is legal in some states and not others. I bought some for my FIL (who loved to garden) before he passed and I inherited them. You can put them in any normal light fixture, enhancing your growing power in a pot.

You really don't have an outdoor place to plant the mint? It wants to make runners.

I bought these really $$ wave petunias this spring. Two flats I put in planters on my deck and one flat I installed in horrible, lime riddled gravely ground under some bushes in the front. I only did the ones under the bushes on a whim, just to see. Those babies look AMAZING, all spread out and flourishing. The ones on the deck, which have very nice dirty and plenty of water and love, are the most bedraggled things ever. They have flowers on the tips and long veiny steams with zillions of immature follicle flowers. It's the most sad, pathetic thing, two flats of them ruined.

Apparently flowers are extremely opinionated, lol.

[Terabith]

1 minute ago, PeterPan said:

What are you thinking to grow there? Maybe change to fish? A nice betta swimming in an aquarium? 

 

I really like having fresh herbs:  mint, rosemary (although that's doing fine), lavender, tarragon, several varieties of basil.  (I love basil.)

[Terabith]

My husband expressly forbid me to plant mint freely in the yard because he did not want to be dealing with a yard all the way full of mint.  

[Zebra]

I really think the key to growing a bumper crop of mint is to hate it, and be actively trying to get rid of it.

Maybe you just need an attitude change...🤣

[I talk to the trees]

15 hours ago, Terabith said:

Definitely!  They are amazing.  

But.....I mean, I couldn't keep MINT alive.  (Catnip, on the other hand, is flourishing.)  

Well, dang! Wish we could have set up an exchange! My mint is well on its way to achieving world domination, but my catnip fizzled by early May. I really wanted the catnip to do well because I have been caring for my elderly neighbor's cats all summer while she has been in rehab. 
 

You aren’t alone with the tomato plants, thought. All but one of mine got some sort of rot too! And don’t get me started on lettuce! This has been the most disastrous lettuce season ever. 😟

[marbel]

It's OK to find that gardening isn't your (general you) thing, or any other hobby. I saw an article somewhere - can't find it now - about people giving up their Covid-19 hobbies, not just gardening, but bread-baking and other homey pursuits.

The only things I have ever grown successfully are mint and chives. I have a pot of spearmint and ginger mint on my front stoop. (I would never put mint in the ground.) It grows well, then dies back every winter, then comes back again. Chives are in a little patch of dirt among some flowers. They also just come back every year. I do nothing to maintain them.  But I really don't have a big desire to garden. I admire gardeners and farmers, and someday I may wish I could grow my own food, but it's just not something I am going to put effort into right now. 

Edited September 22, 2020 by marbel

[RootAnn]

1 hour ago, marbel said:

I saw an article somewhere - can't find it now - about people giving up their Covid-19 hobbies, not just gardening, but bread-baking and other homey pursuits.

I hope they don't give up their new pets, too.

Speaking of which, anyone want a new kitten? Or a friendly adult cat? DD's non-profit still over-floweth with them.... 

[Terabith]

1 hour ago, RootAnn said:

I hope they don't give up their new pets, too.

Speaking of which, anyone want a new kitten? Or a friendly adult cat? DD's non-profit still over-floweth with them.... 

Oh, I so, so much do.  Our neighbor's cat that I named Kamala (and she came to it) has disappeared, and I'm so worried about her, but when I tried to talk to my neighbor about her cat, she completely ignored me.  I thought maybe she didn't hear me, so I went over close to her, and she just stared past me and literally wouldn't make eye contact or anything, and it was one of the most awkward situations I've ever had in my life, and I miss her, because she let me pet her.  But we have two cats, but neither of them is MY cat, and Obama is a complete jerk, and Scout is pooping on the floor, so I know we can't get a new cat.  But I would love one.  

Getting a pet isn't like trying to grow tomatoes for a year.  I don't think.  Dear God, I hope not.  Part of why I didn't like it was because I felt so much stress worrying about the emotional health of my plants, because I read an article about how they communicate, and SO.  MUCH.  GUILT.  

[RootAnn]

44 minutes ago, Terabith said:

But I would love one.

I get it because we have a jerk, a fraidy cat who only loves you when you want to sleep, and a On My Terms cat. And DH says no more.

Dd has so many snugglers who would love to be your next lap kitty. I hope Scout decides to start finding the litter box again.

[marbel]

2 hours ago, RootAnn said:

I hope they don't give up their new pets, too.

Speaking of which, anyone want a new kitten? Or a friendly adult cat? DD's non-profit still over-floweth with them.... 

I hope so too. I have wondered about the fate of all the quarantine pets and what would happen when people went back to work/school. As I recall, the article I read did not touch on that. I resisted the pleas of my kids to get a new dog. 

Edited September 22, 2020 by marbel