I’ve been in such a funk lately, and I felt like nothing was going to change for me for a long time. Everyday was same ol’-same ol’ to me, and it was hard for me to see the positives and appreciate the little things.
I think God realized this, and decided it was time to show me exactly how quickly I can change. I’m not super religious, so this isn’t going to be preachy, but it’s funny how things in life can be related directly to you. For me, it was our garden.
The same garden that no matter how many times I tried to water it to make it look better, it wilted.
Same thing went for my life, it seemed. I’d sew something, hugely mess up, and have to rip the seams, only to have the fabric itself rip…fail. The mess in our house was getting out of hand, and I had no motivation in me to clean it. I had no motivation in me to really do anything fun. I just wanted to sit on the couch and be lazy. Things were bad, and I needed an intervention.
Well folks, it rained Saturday…literally poured. Sunday, it rained…Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday..all rain. It was getting a little depressing after a while, and I just was in a funk, until Thursday.
Thursday was a wonderful day. Thursday’s surprises shook me and made me realize that while things might look bad for a while, things can change for the better. It takes something drastic, like, say, a 4 day rainstorm, but things can most definitely change.
Staring at the garden yesterday helped me to realize just that. We have a tree full of baby lemons. That same tree last week had no flowers, full of dead/burnt baby lemons. The rain jolted it awake, and it’s just looking more alive than ever.
The first jalapeno showed up on our pepper plant. The same pepper plant that was looking fairly pathetic next to the bell peppers and tomatoes.
The tomatoes exploded in size, and the plants are thriving…pesticide free still. (Thank you companion plants).
The hydrangea that never bloomed last year is showing signs of life.
I even got a complete surprise in my garden. A begonia I never planted, in the middle of a garden full of dianthus. I thought it was a weed 4 days ago, but it bloomed into a little surprise. 🙂
Looking at our garden has made me realize that yes, things can look bad in life for a while. Just don’t avert your eyes away from the little surprises that are trying to give you a chance to change that outlook. 🙂
Good mindset about things! and I just have to say, I’m totally jealous that you’ve already got tomatoes & peppers! Our plants are still tiny!
Hi Amy,
Anita (Mrs. Snow Pea) here! I’m sooooooooooo happy to “meet” a fellow blogger gardener! I feel so bored blogging about my garden alone and it’s so relative when you see it in photos. It’s awesome that you have fruit already since you’re south of me – at least I have your blog to keep me company through the long fruitless months.
What did you use as a companion to your tomato plant? I’m doing more of that this year. I noticed when I planted soy beans that my eggplant were doing better and getting less eaten by pests.
Btw, I’m not sure if you know this but you can pick off the leaves that are BELOW your fruit (tomato and pepper). That will let the nutrients concentrate on your fruit and not get diverted to these insignificant branches.
My jalepeno was slow at first and then it really took off later in the summer.
Haha Anita. I did pick the “suckers” as my Dad calls them early on. At this point, my tomato plants look like an absolute jungle, even though they are tied to the arbor. I’m hoping I get fairly decent sized fruit this year. However, I am currently trying to fight squash bugs/leaf footed bugs on my tomatoes. They seem to have taken refuge in my garden, so I’m hoping they haven’t done too much damage so far. I read that pesticides don’t really help, you just have to shake them in a bucket of soapy water and let them die.
For companions, I have marigolds, basil, salvia and cosmos. They seem to be working fairly well, with the exception of the squash bugs. 🙂 At least I don’t have a spider mite infestation like I did last year…that was horrible!