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Old December 3, 2011   #1
Alpinejs
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Default Emotional hang-ups

A two yr. old thread got me to think and realizing that I have emotional
problems with my fairly new tomato addictions. I will just list two and see if
others have "conditions" that need the attention of a good psychiatrist.

I grow seedlings to sell. One can never balance perfectly "supply and demand" and preferences, so I end up with some I neither have room for
nor can sell or even reasonably give away. Sooooo, I must MURDER them.
Seriously, I almost see it as murder. Hey, do-do, it is just a plant!!

Also, I do sing to my tomatoes. I sing stupid, made up songs and the worse
that I sing them, I think the better the maters like it. I won't even sing in
the shower cause my singing voice is so bad, but I get the feeling that the
tomatoes think I rank with Caruso and Pavoratti or even Perry Como.

Okay, I feel better now. Confession is good for the soul. And so what is
your hang-ups or are you psychologically healthy?
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Old December 3, 2011   #2
Worth1
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I cant say I talk or sing to plants.
If you listen closely to can hear the tomatoes scream for their mothers as you walk away from the garden with them all tucked away in a basket.
I also take pleasure in killing plants just as they start to have babies.
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Old December 3, 2011   #3
saltmarsh
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Pretty Babies. Such pretty babies. Yes you are.
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Old December 3, 2011   #4
SEAMSFASTER
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Confession time eh?

I can't find a reason to sing anymore, but I raise my seedlings indoors and play classical music to them. Several customers claimed they were the healthiest seedlings they ever had. Perhaps...

Likewise I cannot bring myself to intentionally snuff the life out of one of the seedlings I've tended since "birth" before it's had a chance to produce something of value. I ended up giving away hundreds of seedlings to community gardens, schools, etc. Then I had to (compulsively...) find more space to grow the leftovers.

I'm still guilt-ridden and grief-stricken over the 100 or little ones I murdered back in April by giving them a double concentrated dose of fish emulsion. Mass murderer. No wait, wouldn't that be negligent tomatocide, or involuntary tomatoslaughter? Ok, now I don't feel quite so guilty..

Have I finally found here the genuine TA recovery group which I obviously need?

51 varieties in 2010, 280 in 2011, I'm too ashamed to even confess how many I'll be planting in 2012. How can I find space or time to grow them all?

Good thing tomatoes are not fattening or I might qualify for a leading role as a rolling red mass in one of those old, weird B movies - Attack of something...

I hope this confession doesn't cause the TV admin people to change my designation from Tomatovillian to Tomatoholic - or Tomatocidal maniac.

OCD - what AM I doing up in the middle of the night anyway, again?

Shhhh
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Old December 3, 2011   #5
Alpinejs
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Oh happy days! Oh happy me! I am not alone.

For anyone considering a career in psychoanalysis, it appears tomato
fruitcakes are a fertile area just awaiting treatment.
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Old December 3, 2011   #6
kurt
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpinejs View Post
A two yr. old thread got me to think and realizing that I have emotional
problems with my fairly new tomato addictions. I will just list two and see if
others have "conditions" that need the attention of a good psychiatrist.

I grow seedlings to sell. One can never balance perfectly "supply and demand" and preferences, so I end up with some I neither have room for
nor can sell or even reasonably give away. Sooooo, I must MURDER them.
Seriously, I almost see it as murder. Hey, do-do, it is just a plant!!

Also, I do sing to my tomatoes. I sing stupid, made up songs and the worse
that I sing them, I think the better the maters like it. I won't even sing in
the shower cause my singing voice is so bad, but I get the feeling that the
tomatoes think I rank with Caruso and Pavoratti or even Perry Como.

Okay, I feel better now. Confession is good for the soul. And so what is
your hang-ups or are you psychologically healthy?
I feel the same way,so when it comes time to remove the weaker seedlings I will gently remove them and bury them when I transplant the maters so as they dont really die they just go to sleep and help its sisters and in theory be part of the new plant.
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Old December 3, 2011   #7
Tania
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I do talk to my tomato plants. My psychologist thinks it is OK. I think by the end of the therapy she will be fully addicted to tomatoes too.
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Old December 3, 2011   #8
tgplp
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I talk to my seedlings all the time, when I think no one is listening. Also, I pet them a lot, which apparently is good for their stems, so that's my excuse. I keep a journal of my garden, and last year I named a bunch of my plants, something that had to do with the variety! I called one of my Stupice plants Peachy, and I named one of the runts Gimpy. Once, at the end of the season, I buried three plants and put flowers on their graves!

Glad to hear I'm not the only weird one!

Taryn
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Old December 4, 2011   #9
Neohippie
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Oh, I HATE murdering plants! It's one thing to cull out the weak ones. That's more like plant euthanasia. But perfectly healthy plants that you just don't have room for? "Oh, I'm so sorry little plants! So, so sorry!"

This summer took a great emotional toll on me, because the drought restrictions made it hard to keep all my garden plants watered, so I had to let some of them die!

And I probably should have let more die, but when they got all wilted, it was like they were silently screaming to me, "Please! Just a little water! *gasp!* We're soooo thirsty!" So then I kept watering them anyway, even though I never got a crop of anything from them, and pretty much just threw all that water away keeping plants alive through the drought for no reason but guilt.

I don't sing to my plants, but I do give them words of encouragement. "Oh, you're starting to grow your first true leaves? Well done!"
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Old December 4, 2011   #10
Keiththibodeaux
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I talk to my plants all the time. And yes, I have even given the a gently stroke of congratulations when they are recovery from a dastardly dead, man made or natural.

Of course sometimes I cut them off at the ankles and eat them too. How confused my plants must be.
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Old December 4, 2011   #11
Alpinejs
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Whew!!! At least so far, no one has confessed to having a bigger photo
album of their tomatoes than they do of their kids!!
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Old December 4, 2011   #12
Keiththibodeaux
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpinejs View Post
Whew!!! At least so far, no one has confessed to having a bigger photo
album of their tomatoes than they do of their kids!!
I do, well at least of my garden. Wait, I have no kids. Is that cheating?
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Old December 4, 2011   #13
Zana
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Originally Posted by Alpinejs
Whew!!! At least so far, no one has confessed to having a bigger photo
album of their tomatoes than they do of their kids!!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Keiththibodeaux View Post
I do, well at least of my garden. Wait, I have no kids. Is that cheating?
I guess I'm with you Keith....only a furry kid...and I still have more photos of my garden than my furry kid. Granted I've only had him for a year though. LOL
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Old December 4, 2011   #14
Worth1
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Count me in too, I am childless except for furry kids.

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Old December 5, 2011   #15
Alpinejs
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I'll add one more of my own hangups. As much as I feel like a murderer when I dispose of a seedling, I even feel badly for seeds that don't get used. When I read about a variety
that I want to try, I order a packet of seeds (usually 30). I plant two and if it doesn't make it into my "must grow" list, I have 28 seeds crying for a chance to do their thing. So, now I PM folks seeking any of those varieties, offer my list to newbies, give them to the firemen
at the firestation, send them out in Christmas cards, give to friends and relatives, etc.
I get teary-eyed in seeing a healthy seedling about 8" tall and soon to be rootbound that
emerged out of one of those little seeds. All that energy, beauty and promising future
all imprisoned in that little seed. Wow. It would be easy to go spiritual at this point, but will save that for a different board, plus this is a tomato seed, not a mustard seed, right?
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