Thinning

I hate thinning seedlings.  I guess I don't feel I have the moral authority to decide which plants live and which plants die.  But that philosophy comes back to haunt me every season. 

Hubby and I love beets.  I planted 2 rows of beets...one row of red and one row of gold. 

In a perfect world once they have two sets of true leaves, I should thin them to 1-2" between plants.  But do I?  Oh no...I can't seem to bring myself to do it.  I say, "I'll wait till they get a bit taller, then I'll thin them".   And before I know it, they're 6" tall and still not thinned out.  Then I know I'm in trouble.  I can clearly see that without thinning, the plants are too close together and none of the beets are going to grow to potential.

Well that's that I did Sunday afternoon...I thinned beets.  It was so much more difficult than if I had thinned them when they were smaller seedlings, instead of plants like they are now.  But I managed to muddle through it.  Instead of putting the thinnings in the compost bin, I tossed them over the fence line for the deer.  The whitetail and maybe some axis had a feast last night.

Once the beets are thinned, they do look so much better and I know I did the right thing. 

After finishing the beets, I promptly thinned my carrots!