One water droplet hides alone on a shaded leaf in our garden. It almost looks like a bug or larva until its translucence reflects colors of stem and leaf. Did it arrive in the morning dew? How did it hold together into the mid-day heat? On rustled leaf it rolls, slides over edge, breaks and disappears into the dry earth in an instant. It is a wonder that the water droplet can be so strong yet so fragile.
We used an organic method to plan our garden plot this year. No sketches or diagrams, just pick and plant. The plot is finally taking shape. It is planted, supported and protected. We worked in 90 degree weather today to plant eggplants and zucchini, stake the tomatoes and peppers and cover the eggplant, zucchini and butternut squash plants with row covers.
Here is what we are growing now:
From left to right in the above picture…
1. First row: Nasturtium flowers (will have edible red flowers), Arctic Poppy flowers (seeds were an anniversary present from my sweetie who knew Poppy flowers are my childhood favorite) and Sugar Snap Peas (growing on trellis).
2. Second row: Tomato patch, Pepper patch, and Beets.
3. Third row: Eggplants (I asked for Eggplants and my sweetie got me over 18 plants, including the following varieties, Neon, Regular large, Finger, and Sicilian Globe) all under row covers to protect from the flea beetles; Zucchini, Red Onion and Butternut Squash (under row covers to protect from the Squash bugs) and more Beets.
Before the planting my enthusiastic hubby did a “grow” dance, arms waving overhead with a cute body wiggle. After the planting, muddy, sweaty, tired we slumped in the air conditioned van and wondered if we should continue with the community garden. Anyway, we are glad the planting is done.
A salute to all moms and women! By your love and commitment you give others the chance to jump into life and ….grow, learn and make amazing discoveries.
It has been difficult to get to our community garden plot this spring. More responsibilities at work, school, and home pull us away. But we are determined to hold on to our garden plot and our family gardening hobby.
Yesterday, we arrived at our community garden plot in the late afternoon, just before the heavy rains came. The dark rain clouds moved closer as we rushed to plant beet seeds and broccoli, eggplant and nasturtium seedings. The wind blew strong, the rain fell fast and the row covers fluttered and flapped. My son ran for the van, then on his own initiative returned to help me carry supplies back to the van. I gathered rocks to help my husband secure our row covers over the broccoli and eggplants and anchor our neighbor’s row cover that almost flew away.
It didn’t matter that we got wet. We felt the simplicity in physical work and nature. My husband and son pounded the hard clods of dirt to aerate the soil for the plants. I gently unraveled tendrils on the sugar snap peas and led them toward the trellis. We felt a storm unfold around us. We worked together with our hands and helped protect our garden neighbor’s plants. We completed our garden work and picked a bunch of lettuce. We slowed down.
Our garden plot holds us so we are not blown away by the frenetic life in Howard Co. Maryland.
My son worked to mend a friendship today. I am so proud of him. I hope you don’t mind that I squeeze his story into my garden-themed blog. There is a bit of a connection….friendships and gardens both need tending in order to flourish, right?
Restoring a Friendship
Spring break gives my son extra time in the morning to crawl into mommy and daddy’s bed and talk. This morning his chattering “broke up some hard soil” in his heart. He talked about missing his school buddies except for one classmate, I will call Sam. My son said angrily “Sam is not my friend, he is mean to me, he called me a dummy.” I was surprised, the two boys got along before. Next, he spilled out how he accidentally hit Sam in the face with a ball during recess one day. He blamed Sam, “I tried to catch it, but he got in the way, now he is mean to me.” I listened. Below the surface, I heard regret and sadness over a broken friendship. Later, that evening we were at Target looking for a birthday card and my son showed me this card and said, “I want to give this card to Sam.” At bedtime my son said proudly, “I decided to be a peacemaker.” His anger towards Sam was gone. What a lesson to learn at 7 years old! On the outside of the envelope, he wrote “To Sam, with Happiness.”
The Spring blossoms are early this year. Petals are sent into a flurry from a March breeze or a whack of my son’s walking stick. Our front yard is already sprinkled with white petals from the Bradford Pear tree blossoms.
The new bulbs we planted last fall are full bright flowers – Iris Bucharia – 6″ tall yellow and white blooms hide inside spiked green fanning leaves; Tulip Monte Carlo – 6″ tall fluffy yellow double blooms float near the rocks along the sidewalk in front of the steps; and Trumpet Daffodils – 18″ tall ruffled yellow and white blooms wave next to the stairs.
Our dog, CJ, welcomes any new flowers because they may bring bees. He has a passion for catching bees. With cat-like reflexes and strong jaws, he will pounce and snap at flitting bees, totally focused. Even the chance for a long awaited walk on the leash won’t break him away from his bee-catching obsession. Flowers bring joy to us all!
The Spring gardening season began this weekend in our garden plot. My husband did most of the work since I started back to full-time work outside the home a few weeks ago. My husband pruned the fig tree, prepare the soil in our salad table, cleaned 45 small containers and planted pepper, tomato and eggplant seeds in the containers.
I enjoyed watching his gardener heart at work. Only a true gardener would…..
1. Wrap some fig tree cuttings with moist paper towels, bundle them in a plastic bag and place them in a warm spot on top of the refrigerator. He has high hopes of starting more fig trees.
2. Give some fig tree cuttings to neighbors who also like to garden.
3. Turn and work together our smelly kitchen compost and seed starting mix with bare hands and a smile.
4. Create a mini greenhouse in our basement with sawhorses, plastic drop cloth and a small space heater. Our newly planted seeds are warm and cozy under the plastic blanket tent with warm air circulating around them.
Green fingers are the extension of a verdant heart. ~Russell Page
Chickadees and woodpeckers dine at our homemade pine cone bird feeders. We look forward to counting them in the next Great Backyard Bird Count on February 17 to 20, 2012.
The Great Backyard Bird Count website has lots of information about birds and fun activities to help kids develop birdwatching skills. The site explains why the count is important for scientists, has a video that describes how to participate in the bird count and generates a list of the birds you may find in your area. Would you like to join the count? You could win a prize!
Last weekend we had a birthday party for the ever growing sprout in our garden plot – my seven year old son. These days, most kids have their birthday parties outside the home at facilities like JumpZone and PumpItUp. Those places are fun, but expensive so we decided to be adventurous and have a nature party in our home. The kids made bird feeders, searched for animal tracks, threw snowballs inside our house and found their own chirping bird to bring home.
They made the bird feeders by spreading a mixture of vegetable shortening, cornmeal and oatmeal onto a pine cone, then rolling the coated pine cone in safflower seeds. Before the party we tied string around the top of the pine cones. After each child finished their feeder, we wrapped it in saran wrap and placed it in their goodie bag. After the bird feeder activity, the kids guessed how many gummies were in the jars…one for gummy worms and one for gummy bears.
Next, they all searched for animal tracks scattered throughout the house. Each child had a list of the 15 animals who left their tracks in our house, along with stickers to place next to the animal’s name after they found its tracks. The kids had fun scurrying up and down the stairs hunting. The most difficult tracks to find were the bird tracks since I had placed some of them on a shelf (birds can fly, you know).
My husband led the kids in snowball throwing games in the basement while I prepared the kitchen table upstairs for the pizza and cupcakes. I was not worried, the snowballs were soft pom poms I made with white yarn (I made 20). They held up well, only a few white yarn strands fell onto the carpet.
The party concluded with each child finding their own chirping bird in a paper nest (an origami box). The kids were thrilled to bring home their own bird. All the birds were local varieties they may see come to their feeders.
My son enjoyed his day with his friends and all the activities. He felt a bit like a king. “Wait! I need my crown!” he shouted, just before the cupcakes, candles and the happy birthday song.
I’d love to hear your in-home kid birthday party ideas.
Our Garden Plot 