Pretty much every spring we plant a little vegetable garden in our backyard. This year the preparing and planting of the garden coincided with a parenting class Eric and I are taking at church. Last Sunday, the class talked about teaching our children responsibility through the real life experience of growing plants, paired with the Biblical lessons about reaping what you sow.
In past years when the kids were younger, I just took care of preparing the soil on my own. This year the kids helped me (a bit) with removing the weeds, old roots, and rocks from the soil; loosening the soil; and adding nutrients; so that we can grow a healthy and plentiful crop.
Carter and I had picked up a few seed packs at Home Depot a few weeks back, but last Sunday the kids and I went to Armstrong and picked up a few more packs and some small lettuce and tomato plants (so we have some green from the start).
The kids were very excited about planting the seeds. Ashlynn liked helping with following a pattern for the back row along the lattice (there are many climbing vines and tall sunflowers that need to share that space). She shared her logic on why we should do things in certain ways. This year Carter was great about counting just the right number of seeds for each hole, unlike past years when he just dumped a handful into the holes.
Last Monday while Ashlynn was in school, Carter and I planted some more seeds and started making signs to mark the spots.
Pippa kept us company while getting a little sun.
A couple days later, Ashlynn planted more seeds, to wrap up the job.
Ashlynn had to be extra careful with the spray so she could keep her cast dry.
This year, our garden gnome will keep an eye on things.
Hoping for a good crop this year!
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