Loosing interest in growing my own and dont know why.

[Flummery]

Winter is no time to be enthusiastic about anything (except stew and dumplings or cocoa with a dash of brandy!) so give yourself time for the season to give you enthusiasm. That's the point of seasons. It's Nature's Way of telling us to have a rest and not worry about it.

If you don't feel the pull when the new shoots start coming up - daffs all around etc, then you can reason that you've lost the enthusiasm. I start seeing the spring bulbs and thinking "but you can't eat them!" Off I go to my seeds and pots and the season's under way again.

[lynda66]

i lost interest about the middle of summer lol ....... got fed up of weeding in the rain, but when theres a nice day, i do think i should go out, but theres nothing i can do cos the grounds too wet, so i come on here and it cheers me up ..... come spring though, i know i'm going to be getting all excited again about growing all that yummy food. So i'm another on the wait till spring list

Lynda xxx

[petal]

Nope, I feel exactly the same right now. Its the weather and chill. I suggest getting some seed catalogues in and sitting with a hot chocolate and a pen!

[Farmer_Gyles]

my get up and go has got up and gone

i need an allotment buddy - i'm a single parent, i work from home, so spend a lot of time on my own - being on my own on the allotment just doesn't do it for me

[OverWyreGrower]

i lost interest about the middle of summer lol ....... got fed up of weeding in the rain, but when theres a nice day, i do think i should go out, but theres nothing i can do cos the grounds too wet,

Me too! Going down the garden and seeing 2 of my 3 beds underwater, and having my christmas potatoes rot in the ground without sprouting was it for me

I managed to muster up the enthusiasm to clear the beds, cover them with duck poo and straw and that's about it!!

I know that I'll do some tidying up over my Christmas hols (when I'm not at work) and that come spring, I'll be back into it again...

Don't worry Minty - you are not the only one!! (((HUG)))

[onion]

You see Minty, you are like very many of us at this time of the year.
It's hard work gardening, and now is the time to rest totally, both mentally and physically.Switch off your concerns and have a mince pie with a glass. (or 2!!) of your favourite .

[Headfry]

I get to feel the same way Minty....
You work so hard in the spring and summer, I consumes your life and thoughts.
Then it ends!
Winter arrives and you feel somehow let down, nothing to do, nothing much (plot wise) to think about, it all looks dead anyway!!!!.......it's the winter blues!
Hang on until the spring before you give it all up.
I have part cured my 'winter blues'.....
I now call November the start of my veg growing year, onions go in, garlic goes in, so to shallots and broad beans. I now have reason to check the plot and even reason to fret and worry! sounds daft but this works for me.
Good luck Minty, don't give up you have worked so hard.

[SlugLobber]

To be honest Minty, it's the time of year when I generally have a big Bleugh on gardening - I could be pot & tray washing, or seed box sorting, or any number of other little jobs, but to be honest I can't be @rsed. No worries, it's Christmas! I'll get a flush of enthusiasm as soon as my onion sets or potatoes or seed order arrives, and then I'll be away again for the year!
Have a break, don't feel bad about it If your enthusiasm doesn't fire up in the Spring, then worry

What she said! I did get very excited walking around a new (to me) garden centre the other day and have made a list of all the things I want to order/grow for next year. I'm barely doing anything in the garden, so God knows what the neighbours thought when I had a brief 1/2hr of enthusiasm at 4pm the other day, planting out 150 bulbs!

I get the same blues about going to see the ponies in winter, sometimes. It's cold, miserable and mostly muddy, so I do relate to that lack of Oomph feeling. One thing which helps me there is having a nice gas stove and the facilities to make hot choccie/soup up there. Do you have room on your lottie for that? That way it's more of a retreat than a place of toil. Recently obtaining an iPod also helps. Flinging poo to the Devil Went Down to Georgia is most satisfying, lol! Hope you pick up soon, but don't feel bad about not doing much now - most people that I know don't restart in the garden until March or so!

[Nicos]

I hate to admit that I feel the same way a bit..well quite a bit really- but it's not the first year I've felt this way.

I enjoy company when I work and am happy to work far too hard and long when I'm working with someone else- they just need to be within shouting range

I'm on my own all day during daylight hours and have loads of weeding ...and even some bulbs to plant out yet

Nope- just don't feel like squelching about in the mud with arctic winds a- blowing when it can be left until another day!

Had sunshine and company Monday morning and got loads done- and to be honest I think the guilt of evasion and avoidance was starting to get to me.
Still stuff to do but somehow it's not quite as off putting.
Good company , reasonable weather and lighter nights can only help!

If you don't want to do it yet Minty...just leave it- most lotties can be left until April if that's how you're feeling- so give youreself a break from your guilt trip and be relieved to have halved your work load!

Perhaps you can set an area aside as an orchard/ soft fruit bush area with self-seeded grass underneath ( or a wild flower meadow??)

Stop and think about what veg don't need much attention....artichoke, jerusalem artichoke, spuds,kale ..for a start and plan where you want to put them. Raised beds make the area much more manageable.

It is possible to make it very low maintenance if you consider how and what you want to grow. We've kept our UK lottie and had to think hard about what to grow next year...it's going to be OK- and I'm confident we won't be kicked off for letting it overgrow ( 6 weeks at a time!!!)


To top it all, we've had two really poor growing years ( well I have) so that's not stimulating in itself....but 2009 is going to be fantastic!!! ( yep...you heard it first on the Vine folks!!!!)

Keep the old pecker up Minty...and the rest of us going through the winter blues. ( blue's a wrong colour to describe it isn't it...should be winter greys or something...although that sounds like old bra's and knickers)

end of natter........

[piskieinboots]

...end of natter........

and a very lovely natter is was too an all

[BrideXIII]

personally, that's just how i think of winter, old bras and knickers, grey, dingy and can't wait to chuck em out and get nice new bright colourful ones

[janeyo]

Maybe it's all about the transforming of the plot you like so much? You said you had taken them on from a sorry state. Maybe you are after the thrill of another chase so to speak? ie now they are in good shape you need something else to get your teeth into?

janeyo

[piskieinboots]

On way to Christmas lunch today we passed a pile of catkins looking just top oh

[crazy_red]

Hi Minty,

I think we all get the gardening blues at this time of year. It can be really difficult to muster up any enthusiasm.

I've had a really bad patch of this, lasted several years in fact, when I really lost heart (see my blog entry) but joining the Vine has helped me regain my gardening confidence and renewed my enthusiasm.

All thanks to the people on here . So I hope things improve for you too, and come spring everything will seem different and I'll bet you get those itchy gardening fingers again...

Big << hugs>>, don't give up hope. If the magic of sowing seed and seeing them sprout is still there, the rest will surely follow....

Red x

[Snadger]

personally, that's just how i think of winter, old bras and knickers, grey, dingy and can't wait to chuck em out and get nice new bright colourful ones

Yep.......your avatar looks like she could do with a new wardrobe as well.........