Inferiority Complex

In between slaving in the garden I try to time my breaks so that I can watch gardening programs on TV if there are any on. Today there was one that included a community garden.  It was picture perfect with all beds filled with almost perfect produce and not a weed in site or any heaps of rubbish.  The spaces between the beds were emerald green and almost like a bowling lawn. Then I look at my place and so feel a litte dispirited until I realise it is the journey that is important. I must also realise that when TV is going to make a program, everyone works like the dickens to get it just right.  Just like when the Queen visits and the train station is spruced up and painted etc., even though she will spend only a few minutes there.

I think it is the long winter that has got me down and it seems as though spring will never arrive. So far I have two snowdrops and about six crocus in bloom, and underneath the mulch I can see garlic and strawberries. When the tree fellers were here last week I asked them not to step on the crocus, and in spite of eight huge trees coming down, all the crocus were still there. They could easily have trampled them without thinking. After they had finished they smilingly pointed out that the crocus were still there.

Do not despair Kelejan
There are likely a lot of poisons involved on those TV show gardens, OR a ton of worker bees.  
The community gardens I have seen in real life are ANYTHING BUT picture perfect.
     HERES to the crocuses....   only flower I have either. HOWEVER I DID see a few leaves starting on the raspberries though  

Thanks for the Cheers-up, GWN, so very much appreciated.  I think I am feeling a little tired at the moment so I am going to have a nice soak and then a glass of sherry and relax with my furbaby for the rest of the evening. Early to bed then I know I will be rejuvenated by morning and ready to go again.   
Since March 21 I have done 33 hours of sheer 100% physical work with clearing winter debris and working with the trees etc. Every hour I work I put a sticker on my calender.
The hours per day varied between 1, 2, 3 and 4. On the four-hour days I had a total of 24 hours volunteer work donated to me by my neighbour's boys. This is a tremendous boost to my project so really I have no reason to feel a little down. I know all I need is some rest.

Keejan,

Rest up and re-charge!  The best time of the year is just around the corner.

kelejan
You are an inspiration to me, I only hope that I will still be starting new gardens, trying new things, exploring when I am 79
Have a nice sleep and remember.... balance.... a bit of gardening, a bit of looking at your garden, a bit of thinking about your garden,   ... and then you can dream about your garden.

GWN wrote:kelejan
You are an inspiration to me, I only hope that I will still be starting new gardens, trying new things, exploring when I am 79
Have a nice sleep and remember.... balance.... a bit of gardening, a bit of looking at your garden, a bit of thinking about your garden,   ... and then you can dream about your garden.

79??? Kelejan!! wow! I'm impressed! way to go. DONT worry about those shows! They have a STAFF of people making sure they look good before they start to film I'm sure! Who would watch a show with a garden full of weeds? Well, maybe some of us would, but you get the point! Fear not, your time is coming!!
Keep up the stickers!! lol

Kelejan wrote:In between slaving in the garden I try to time my breaks so that I can watch gardening programs on TV if there are any on. Today there was one that included a community garden.  It was picture perfect with all beds filled with almost perfect produce and not a weed in site or any heaps of rubbish.  The spaces between the beds were emerald green and almost like a bowling lawn. Then I look at my place and so feel a litte dispirited until I realise it is the journey that is important. I must also realise that when TV is going to make a program, everyone works like the dickens to get it just right.  Just like when the Queen visits and the train station is spruced up and painted etc., even though she will spend only a few minutes there.

I think it is the long winter that has got me down and it seems as though spring will never arrive. So far I have two snowdrops and about six crocus in bloom, and underneath the mulch I can see garlic and strawberries. When the tree fellers were here last week I asked them not to step on the crocus, and in spite of eight huge trees coming down, all the crocus were still there. They could easily have trampled them without thinking. After they had finished they smilingly pointed out that the crocus were still there.

Kelejan Kelejan kelejan
If you need some inspiration cmon over to my little spot of heaven (backyard), wanting to make it a showplace, I keep going backward every season.
I'm not able to get ahead, always something new I need to do, mud is so deep now I have it squishing over my boots....I always try to look for the better days ahead....
maybe a glass of wine will do....

Kelejan and Jimmy,  You guys are inspirations for this 65 year old.  For 13 months I've been working on the boxes (74 squares) and supplementing with pots (43).  My yard looks like a cyclone went through it,  Definitely not ready for prime time.     I'm finally getting some garage storage space so hopefully I can finally store out-of-season garden paraphernalia. 

GWN wrote:kelejan
You are an inspiration to me, I only hope that I will still be starting new gardens, trying new things, exploring when I am 79
Have a nice sleep and remember.... balance.... a bit of gardening, a bit of looking at your garden, a bit of thinking about your garden,   ... and then you can dream about your garden.

Sshh! Don't tell anyone my age, I will boast about it when I reach 100 + and still doing what I am doing now.  I am so lucky that I am in excellent health with no aches or pains so far. I did have a few of those many years ago until I changed my lifestyle for the better, now I am a bit fanatical about what I eat etc. Hence organic gardening.
Your advice is accepted with thanks; I am all for balance and I really need to sit in my garden a bit more and enjoy what I accomplish.

[quote="jimmy cee"]
If you need some inspiration cmon over to my little spot of heaven (backyard), wanting to make it a showplace, I keep going backward every season.
I'm not able to get ahead, always something new I need to do....
/quote]

Kelejan...hope you are feeling full of vim and vinegar this morning! I too collapsed last night and thought I'd never move again and I'm only 58.  I can totally relate to Jimmy. My Clampett garden, as I refer to it, looks like the Hatfields and McCoys had a feud in it. Matter of fact, my whole yard looks like that right now. And I'm off planting pear trees...  

Today's a bright new day here in Cape Cod. Let's put a few new stickers on that calendar, shall we?
Hopefully this thread has inspired me to clean up a little. Ah ...er... hmm maybe not... maybe I'll plant asparagus instead....
  

CC

Kelejan - those emerald green walkways are probably painted! Those of us who live and garden in the real world have a few weeds, a few bare spots, and a list of things that still need to be done! What would we look forward to if our gardens were ever 'finished'?

CC - Love the 'Clampett Garden' name! Definitely describes mine!

Jimmy Cee - Going backwards is progress! With any of my projects (garden or otherwise) they always look worse before they get better!

GG

Kelejan - You are certainly an inspiration to ME!  I'm 50, morbidly obese w/ associated diseases and trying to do better.  One big reason for the garden! 

Almost every day I'm out there working on this new garden and stiff/sore every night & morning.  Reading posts from people like you keep me going out and doing it again.

Thank you.

Kelejan,

I can relate to what you've written.  The last part where you wrote about the crocus resonated with me because I love those harbingers of spring.

I have some significant health problems.  My doctors strongly recommended that I get into something like gardening.  Getting out into the soil and tending to my plants really helps me.  Also, knowing that I must get out of bed and tend to plants that need water and pest removal to survive keeps me motivated in a positive way.

For me, my 12 Earth Boxes are a big help.  If I'm unwell for a while, the self watering aspect the boxes saves me.  Mel's Mix in general is fantastic because of all that lovely water retaining vermiculite.

Keep on keeping on Kelejan.  So many folks know exactly how you feel.  Gardening isn't like baking a cake...  varying ingredients and techniques can all work well.  The triumph is enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Thanks for your post...

 

Ah yes..... celebrate at a hundred.... a friend of mines father just celebrated his.
I once read an article on LONGITIVITY.... I cannot remember what asian country it was, but an area had high number of "centenarians". and of course they looked in to what made this place different.
The difference was gardening... AND gardening together..   I have forgotten the details, but these people lived on their own and gardened in a common space
SO the Key words are GARDENING and TOGETHER
    I guess that is what we are doing here. 

Good morning all!
Reading all the posts this morning has brought a few tears to my eyes.  You are such a wonderful and caring group,
            
and yes, I do feel chipper this morning.
To those with health problems, keep up with your gardening, but do pace your self and take frequent breaks and focus on what you have done, not too much on what your would like to get done. Advice I should take myself. 

I should also add that I could never do what I am doing now if it were not for
SQUARE FOOT GARDENING.

THANK YOU, MEL!  

Thank you for starting this post Kelejan!  As others have mentioned, your advice and encouragement has helped me more times than my brain can remember!

I feel the same way about my yard and garden this spring because I didn't get my garden ready for winter.  It may have been a good idea to have done that as I noticed that in the three beds I have cleared out so far, I didn't have the cat poo to clean out because there was a mass of dead plants in the beds.  I have parsley coming back up and boy is it sweet.  I also have some onions coming up.  So those are the blessings for being overwhelmed and worn out last fall and also feeling sorry for myself, lol!

We have such an amazing group of people on this forum and I sure am grateful for you all!

GWN wrote:Ah yes..... celebrate at a hundred.... a friend of mines father just celebrated his.
I once read an article on LONGITIVITY.... I cannot remember what asian country it was, but an area had high number of "centenarians". and of course they looked in to what made this place different.
The difference was gardening... AND gardening together..   I have forgotten the details, but these people lived on their own and gardened in a common space
SO the Key words are GARDENING and TOGETHER
    I guess that is what we are doing here. 

I saw something on TV or the internet about that -- I think it was in Okinawa.

I love knowing folk's ages.  I'm 78 and very happy to be alive and well with wonderful friends and family and gardens. We are so fortunate to be living in this day and age.  It's old stuff to lie about your age.  We can be very proud of ours.

kauairosina wrote:  It's old stuff to lie about your age.  We can be very proud of ours.

+1

My Mother would never tell anyone her age.  At her funeral service, Pastor jokingly mentioned that everyone finally knew her age.  (91)  I'm thankful for the 65 years I've had so far.

I have always admitted to every one of my years because I would much rather somebody say "she looks good for her age" rather than thinking I'm much younger and look like I've been "rode hard and put away wet".      

Boffer, do we still have the active 90 YO member?  One year we had a forum vote on ages and we ran from 16 (Josh) to 90ish.


Kay

I'm 26.  Have been for a LONG time.  I can't be older than my mom!

I thought my mom was 29.  And I was planning my last official b'day party.  BIG party.  (I love birthdays!) 

I'm talking to my mom and she says, "Honey, I'm not 29.  I'm 27." 

"So you mean I quit having birthdays two years ago and didn't know it??" 

"Yes." 

That was the end of THAT party...  sigh...

So now I do anniversaries.  Next month will be the 25th anniversary of my 26th birthday.  Works for me...

Back in the late '70s, I knew a fellow who boasted about hosting his "second annual 29th birthday party."

An incident happened when I was 57 years old and was called in to the doctor's office to discuss the results of a mammogram that looked suspicous. He had a letter from the Cancer people suggesting I go for a biopsy.  My doctor left the room so I read the letter that he had left lying on his desk. The opening sentence was describing me as a woman in good health but looking her age of 37 years.
The upshot was I asked for a postponement for six months, went back for another mammogram and was pronounced all clear.  A case for misdiagnosis. I did not find out until later that a biopsy can be quite painful.
I was a bit hurt when I read "looked her age" then I re-read the 37 years bit and felt much better.  

I am not too concerned about age and birthdays.  They come and go. I live by the adage : Never regret growing older, a privilege denied to many.


What I do celebrate is the "anniversaries "   Or the years I put between me and a cancer diagnosis.  I was told 5 years ago that my prognosis was 50% to survive 3 years with my stage of cancer, so my NEW birthday is the date that I last saw that doggoned weasel      Me thinks I have him on the run for good