I haven't had much need to thin. After two decades of pratice, I am still blessed with the talent of stopping seeds becoming seedlings. It's a gift so I don't need to deal with that emotional toll.

A friend who gardened with me at a school garden would not thin....claimed it was "playing God". Instead, she let me do the thinning and made some comments about me being God. We had a serious talk and put a stop to that talk. She now understands that many of the veggies will never produce a decent harvest if we don't thin. But, I am the one who must do most of the thinning, just without any unwelcome comments.

You say:
"i didn't have the heart to thin the summer squash, zukes, and tomatoes... so i'm gonna be dropping them off on door steps in the middle of the night! "

If those plants are seriously crowded they will have poor or no yield and there will be nothing to drop off anywhere. Crowding of some plants also gives a greater chance of fungal and other disease. You may want to tough it out and thin some more....or get a gardening friend to do it for you :)

I don't like to "waste seeds" (aka "thin") much myself and make my own seed tapes for radish, carrot, and some other small seeds. I'll space them about twice as thick as I want them. If everything germinates there is some thinning to do yet, but not near what I'd need to do if I direct planted with my clumsy fingers.

lol!
oh no, i DID thin the zukes, squask, and tomatoes - i TRANSPLANTED THEM, they're doing just fine, too fine, lol!! my point wast that because i was being too emotionally attached - no GOD complex, nor seed hoarder - i will now have to be a garden fairy in the night!

no, i TOTALLY get thinning! it's just that it was quite painful last week when i had to pull practically half my lettuce patch (didn't realize just how liberal my ladybug had been with sowing!), and that left it looking so very pitiful. but now it's gorgeous and plentiful!!

look, i just meant for this post to be a way for us (me really) to laugh at ourselves, at least those of us who take thinning so 'seriously'... that's all :)

guess my humor is off today ;o

~ angela :)

Not off humor at all, Angela-I totally get you! Thinning can be painful - I still cringe when I pinch off extra seedlings in pots, and have been known to create 'bonsai squash' in starter pots because I couldn't bear to 'do away' with them ( no joke - a grey zuch will actually bloom in a 2 1/4" pot with leaves about 3" long if you keep watering it long enough!) When thinning greens, I chant to myself the cost of micro greens salads in NYC to assuage the sting! And yes, I've been known to fit in just one more pot to take the overflow from the beds, too, and to tuck a few errant cuke seedlings among the roses in the ornamental beds, as well. There's likely a 10 step program for us, but I'm not ready to admit I've got a problem yet! :-)

I'm having that problem with my zukes and squash right now. I gave away a couple of plants and tried to transplant some more... but I still have more squash than I can keep.

@ orchidOCD - I LOVE IT, LOL!!! you totally get me! 12-step?! LOL!

and no "hcoon", i can't take them - i'm praying that my mom is serious about taking MY extra 'thinnings' off my hands!

oh my poor neighbors, lol!

I find it almost impossible to thin, that is why I am classified as French Intensive /Bio-Dynamic, I can't get rid of anything... I Know, I Know... it's all bad... it is better/needful to thin/reduce... it is just toooooooo hard ;-)
So.... I had 5 extra Zukes (Planted 55) and couldn't find anyone to take them (everyone said "why should I have a garden, if I need veggies, I'll come over and take some of yours".... OY VEY... But I digress.... I went ahead and piled up my last couple of yards of compost and planted those 5 leftover Zukes.... Now you know where the old expression comes from.... GAD ZUKES ;-)

{{gwi:75673}}

Me, 30 days ago: "yeah, I'll just over-plant a little, in case of bugs or whatever ..."

{{gwi:75675}}

Now: "I CAN'T thin anything that's growing that well!"