Yes, another garden post. Can you tell I have seeds and springtime and gardens and warm air on the brain? Daydreaming about summertime is the only respite for the soul when it's cold, gray, snowy, icy and otherwise dreary outside. I keep telling myself that all this snow is a good thing; that it's refilling reservoirs and water tables after last year's drought, but enough is enough already! Is one 40 degree day too much to ask???
So, I dream about gardens and lovely green, growing things.
The kids are dreaming of summer and finalizing their garden plans too. 3 years ago, we plowed up a small space around the clotheslines poles for each child to have their own personal garden. It's only 5 foot in diameter with the aforementioned clothesline post in the center, but they've so enjoyed having their own little spaces! I love that they choose their favorite foods to plant and tend...and I love how they take people out to see what they've grown. At 3 and 5, they were already developing pride in what they could do. That is simply awe-inspiring to me.
Each year when the seed catalogs come in, the kids pour over them trying to decide what to grow each year. They've tried some unusual items: white cherry tomatoes, ground cherries, huckleberries, pink eggplants. Most of those things were gross, but some of it was a smashing success, for instance sunflowers, sugar snap peas, yellow pear tomatoes. One thing is for sure, my kids aren't afraid of experimenting.
So what's on their agendas for this year? Isaac is planning on sunflowers or walking stick kale, yellow pear tomatoes and sugar snap peas. Mara is set on sunflowers, broccoli, carrots and spinach. All their favorite foods :) My kids are learning to grow what they eat and eat what they grow. A mama can't ask for more than that.
How have you encouraged your children to get involved in the gardening process?
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