u/Altruistic-Willow474

North central Florida, zone 9a. Should I throw in the towel for my raised bed kitchen garden? I am growing cucumbers, crookneck squash, watermelon, okra, tomatoes. I have planted lots of marigolds, some rosemary, basil, and mint as companion plants.

My watermelon was so heavily infested with white fly eggs and nymphs, I just pulled it and threw it out. My squash and cucumber leaves are also pretty heavily infested with white flies and squash bugs. I sprayed them yesterday evening with insecticidal soap. I also put out some yellow sticky traps this morning (which have caught a lot of flies), but I have also caught a few baby lizards (which I released using vegetable oil). I’ve also got neem oil and DE (I have not used either yet, I don’t want to harm lady bugs).

Anyone here have success with kitchen gardens during the summer in areas with high heat and humidity? I’m reading online that most gardeners don’t garden during the summer months here because of the high pest pressure.

I am one of four kids. I’m 34 years old, married, with three kids (4, 2, and 4-months old). My sister (36) lives across the country. She is also married with 3 kids (6, 4, and 2). We only get to see each other once or twice per year. I also have an older and younger brother (39 and 28).

I told her months ago, and she thought it sounded great, that I would come out to her state so our kids could hang and I could see her. My parents also live out there (but split their time between my state and hers).

I’ll be staying at my parents in the mountains where I assumed she would also be staying (it is a big house with plenty of room). She lives two hours from them. The vacation is a week away, and I am just now hearing that for the 7-day trip, I’ll only be seeing her for two days. She made other plans for the Fourth of July, and then for the other days, her oldest son has swim team.

I’m really kind of heartbroken. I am doing this trip alone (my husband has work and also can’t go to the mountains because he got HAPE last time), which will be very difficult. And it’s expensive. And I mostly made it to see her and her kids. I’ll get to see my parents too which is nice, but I do get to see them often when they are in my state.

I thought we were closer, but it feels like she doesn’t care to see me and my kids. Like I’m just an afterthought to her own social calendar, even though we planned this trip months ago. If it were me, I would have my son skip swim team for those few days that my sister was in town. And I sure as heck wouldn’t have made other plans for the 4th of July.

She did something similar last summer. Our whole extended family was together on a trip to our hometown. Instead of hanging out with me, she made plans with friends and her sister in law pretty much every day we were there. I didn’t see much of her. I just chalked it up to her wanting to catch up with people…it did bother me at the time but I swept it under the rug.

Am I overreacting? I suppose she doesn’t haven’t a responsibility to be with me. I just am feeling blind-sighted, like I’m just now figuring out that we aren’t that close, and perhaps she doesn’t care that much about me (I love her dearly and enjoy her company). I’ve always looked at her like a best friend. But it feels like, over the past two years, she’s been pulling away from me and I am not sure why. I am starting to wonder if she maybe just doesn’t like my personality that much anymore.

I am Catholic, and all of my children are baptized Catholic. My husband is Christian, but was not raised in any faith (he came to faith in God on his own). We are true believers in Jesus Christ. But I have to say, being Catholic is difficult, and has become a source of stress for me.

I am a mother to three children, 4-YO, 2-YO, and 3-months old. My husband is a business owner and blue-collar worker. His work is tough. All day in the heat, sweating, physically laboring. I help with the business as well, and taking care of three kids whilst doing computer work is taking a toll.

My husband wanted to baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church, but OCIA was too difficult for him. The length of his workdays are unpredictable. When he is finished, he is covered in chemical and sweat (we live in FL), and he is exhausted. The last thing he wants to do is go sit in a classroom. He has asked several priests if he could be baptized without the class, and of course was told no.

Even getting to church is difficult. I am aware that missing is a mortal sin, but it is very stressful to get three children to church (which is 30 minutes away) on time on a Sunday morning. Lots of times my husband is working, and even if he’s not, he and I both need rest to recover from a full week of labor and childcare. I do not get much sleep at night as I am caring for a 3-month old. He also has lost faith in the Catholic Church, feeling that he is not welcome there as even getting baptized in it has become such a hurdle. So usually I have to do mass alone.

So when I miss mass, I am left feeling like I could end up in hell (mortal sin), and I struggle to even get to confession, as I am always caring for three small children. I confess to God, but according to the church, I must confess to a priest.

All to say, as a young, blue-collar family, it at times, feels like the church mainly caters to white-collar people or academics. I’m starting to question, is this really the only way to heaven? Would Jesus really have made it this difficult for us, despite having genuine faith in Him?