Dealing with discouragement

[sumi]

Stay positive… Keep doing your best and enjoy every little bit of the results of what you got done. It's not easy doing things our way, it's a hard life sometimes and getting things "perfect" or reaching goals seems impossible at times, but the things we DO manage to get done is oh so rewarding

If those seedlings don't turn out great, plant a few more. The grow window for most things is quite forgiving and so are plants Don't ask me how I know that! If I remember correctly you did great last year with your garden, so I'm quietly optimistic that this year is going to be even better.

 

[Chic Rustler]

I'm very hopeful!

Yeah if the seedlings don't work out I can always direct sew in March. I need to get this raised bed area done NOW and get some trellis in for the peas very soon.

 

[baymule]

There will always be something that comes along to knock you down. Sometimes it can really get to you. A day of being down in the dumps is to be expected. Then you have all your friends on SS to commiserate and pick you up and make you feel better. I hope you have the best garden season ever!

 

[treerooted]

Ha, oh @Chic Rustler , being overwhelmed is my MO.

My brain likes to keep me in a state of feeling overwhelmed to the point that it can be very difficult to get started, let alone do part of a project! So maybe this type of life isn't for me, but I just keep going anyway! So I too reiterate what everyone else has said. I need to recognize the things that I've done that I'm proud of, and I remind myself that all the expectations and pressures of are my own making. So anything accomplished is a plus!

So ya, I think you're doing great! And being overwhelmed is a very natural reaction to all the great things you want to accomplish! Keep on keeping on

 

[FarmerJamie]

Just keep on keeping on. One foot in front of the other. Keep moving as long as it's forward.

Five years ago my entire life was turned upside down - 20 years of building up a mini-farm gone in one divorce decree. Still don't have a place for a garden, but we have a plan for canning this year. We are already buying meat in bulk and putting up meals. Life is good

 

[frustratedearthmother]

FJ's post - THAT is an example of just keeping on keeping on!

Last year wasn't exactly a banner year on my little homestead...but ya gotta just keep looking ahead. There will be setbacks and there will be wins! It's all part of the cycle.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I have been waiting for 3 YEARS, paying to feed a lot of goats, and finally this year I am going to have kids (and, more importantly, milk!) I had a big hit last year when my buckling never grew (I was eventually told he likely had a genetic issue), and I missed a whole year of breeding. So setbacks. Yeah... They happen. But what do you do? The best you can with what you have.

 

[Britesea]

No matter how frustrating it can be, this lifestyle is still better than living in a gated community and being told what color you can paint your house and what plants you can have in the front yard.

 

[Chic Rustler]

it really makes you appreciate what the generations before us went through

 

[Mini Horses]

I am in awe of my grandparents who raised 7 children and fed them from small farmsteads. No equipment except the hand tools and borrowed the plow horse "Nellie" in early Spring to get the first turn of the garden behind them. Can't even begin to feel what must have been "pressure" to hoe a garden large enough to feed 9 people!!! Canned, pickled, dried...all their feed. Talk about needing to hunt? They had no electric, a well with a bucket. Some chickens. Heated & cooked with wood.

It has taken many, many years to realize what a feat that was