I got angry last night.

I’ve been keeping the garden on a monthly feeding schedule and last night was due for a feeding. Outside was still pretty warm when I headed and I had no desire to stay out late since I have to work in the morning. It’s work from home but still, work with meetings scheduled for early in the morning.

Before commencing garden feeding, I first had to lift up the shade clothes. I understand that shade cloth doesn’t work on all climates but it does work in mine. I think it has to do with the fact that I live in a dry climate with average humidity in the summer around 15%.

Anyway, the moment all shade clothes were lifted and clipped at a desired height, this freaky wind started blowing. The wind here never used to be like this. It used to be this comfortable breeze. Now, instead of a breeze, I get either no wind or wind gusts that blows everything sideways. I bought a ton of 17-inch stakes this year and constructed a trellis for my tomatoes. It’s about 6-feet tall and 4-feet wide, kind of like an upside-down U with 4 center supports.

Last night, the whole thing began to fall backward and I tried to hold on to it for dear life. I don’t remember how long I hang on but it was until I felt the wind calm down. I finally let go and went to check on the other tomato bed. It was fine until I felt another strong breeze come and I didn’t have enough time to grab hold. The top half of the poles dislodged from its connectors and fell, dragging the tomato plants with it.

Thankfully, the tomato plants were okay.

By the time I reconstructed the trellis, the wind had magically died down. I was left with a light breeze. I had no choice but to take the shade clothes completely off. It was too risky to have that happen again.

I didn’t know how much damage the wind did to the front garden but I didn’t think it would be worse than the back. The hoops from the brand-new raised bed I installed the previously weekend had popped and the parts flew everywhere. I was searching everywhere for the parts and mind you, everywhere looked the same since the front garden is a rock garden and the parts were silver and white.

By the time my aunt came out of the front door, I was angry. I was angry that no one helped, no one offered to help. All they do is laugh and call me a “farmer”. My mom only tells me that I need to water her fruit trees more but she won’t do it for some reason. I was angry at the wind for delaying my chores by an hour.

I was also angry that those two don’t do anything except eat and sleep. No one is even getting the mail anymore. It was left sitting in the mailbox for two whole days!

As much as I love the garden, fruit trees are not my specialty, watering these trees feel like a chore because unlike my other plants who shows me immediate sign of happiness or sadness, fruit trees are worse than a rock – it either lives or dies. I have no clue whether it’s getting enough water or whether it’s nutrient deficient. I can’t tell a damn thing with these trees!

You see why I’m frustrated and angry, right?