Treasures

This afternoon I spent some time weeding in the front yard. I can only manage to do a small amount at a time, so that's what I do: choose a section and work there. That way I have a feeling of satisfaction from getting something done, even if it's disjointed and interrupted a lot. While I was weeding both kids brought me "treasures" (in quotes because it's a treasure if you're a child, and if you can remember being a child, or if it was given to you, which isn't everyone. So a treasure to some.). First Jack brought me a leaf off the rhododendron, and we talked about not pulling leaves off of our plants, but thank you very much for the thought and it is pretty. Then he found a hiding spot under our laurel, which I think would be the ultimate play spot if I was a kid, and kept bringing me leaves, although pointing out that they were on the ground, not from a plant. Caroline was barefoot, and so had more fun on the lawn than under the laurel, so she brought me small sticks, a flower from the vinca, and some rocks she procured from somewhere. I had so many gifts while I was weeding that I finally filled a bucket with them. I love that my kids are generous, and excited about things they find. I took a picture of the bucket of treasures to share:

I also took a picture of Jackson in his hiding spot. I sort of got one of Caroline, although she kept running back at me, so this is the best I got. Yesterday and Tuesday were a bit of a lesson in patience for my kids. Will had brought over some zucchini plants this weekend, and I told Jackson and Caroline that we would plant them. First, however, I needed to make a place for them to grow. It was so hot on Sunday and Monday that I didn't want to dig, so we started our small gardening project on Tuesday. I double-dug a ten by three foot section of the yard, but it was late in the day so I couldn't go to the nursery to buy any dirt. We called Aunt Becky, who assured Jackson that the first step to planting a garden was good dirt. He was very helpful in the digging: first weeding, then picking out roots and rocks, and then breaking up dirt clods. But it was hard to wait until the next day. Finally it was Wednesday, and the nursery was open so that we could buy more plants and finish our soil amendments. We dug and hoed a little more, spread some bumper crop soil, and then we planted our vegetables. I chose the tomatoes with the shortest growing season, so that we have some hope of a harvest, and then I let the kids choose the rest. We bought fourteen seedlings, and three packets of seeds. Tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, watermelon, squash, carrots, and mesclun mix. They had a lot of fun helping me plant, especially Jackson who remembers last year's garden. I took a few pictures:

This is both kids, at the end of the planting, looking utterly exhausted as they sit on the slide and sip their soda. The soda was a special treat and they were pretty excited to have root beer, but they were certainly moving slowly. We did gardening instead of naps, because it was too exciting.

These are our tomato plants, which we're hoping to harvest sometime this summer. I wish I had a picture of Jackson working hard with his shovel, or of both kids planting seeds, but I was using my trowel instead of my camera, so I missed those shots. Instead I have a few pictures of the finished product. For those who know our house, the garden is in the back left of the back yard, by the fig and plum trees, up against the lawn. It's pretty much where we planted tomatoes last year.

This may be a little garden, but so far it's been a lot of fun!