Garden 2011

Gardening season 2011 has officially begun. I have high hopes again for this little plot of sandy soil to grow lots of farm fresh veggies to help sustain our family for months to come. It also doubles as a place of therapy for this mother who is almost guaranteed solace to finish a complete thought because the kiddos know that if they come close to it they will be put to work. Sometimes I don't mind working hard and thinking hard alone, but other times I drag them along just to enjoy their presence, and the fact that they will be helping to eat all the sweet corn and green beans and like Chicken Little should have a part in it. Ahem.....

Most of the seeds are planted~ just the normal fare again. Green beans, sweet corn, peas, zucchini (which may double as a critter crop thanks to Momma Hooches great post today), pickles and cucumbers, onions, scallions, carrots, radishes, spinach, several varieties of squash, pumpkins, potatoes, cabbage and tomatoes and sunflowers that overtake everything. Plus, of course, lots and lots of flowers. Some of my sweetest childhood memories are of going out to Grandpa's garden and picking flowers with him, so my vegetable garden always includes a few rows of flowers~ mostly planted with seeds that we harvested from last years crop.

My gardening theory (which absolutely drives Rob crazy~ we may just have two gardens one year, his and hers) is that the closer you plant things the less weeds can grow thus the less hoeing that needs to be done because most of that hoeing (with a real hoe, not a tiller) is done by yours truly and yours truly is not especially fond of hoeing. So, in a matter of weeks, we will all be struggling to make our way through the jungle in our backyard trying to pick one cucumber for a salad and I will vow to not plant things so close next year.

I did get the kids to help out a little~ Micah made me quite a few nice deep holes, Alexis greatly helped with the therapy and Grace found a perfect spot to sit and paint her toenails. I never did see Cole around by the garden much come to think about it. (Confession: I purposely wanted to do it all myself because I didn't want to endure the "first" of everybody planting the garden without Trent). Now we wait for some more rain (dare I say that four letter word?) and keep praying for lots of sunshine as well. Hopefully, Lord willing, we will have sagging pantry shelves and full freezers again in the fall.