We have a garden! My boy, Spencer, and I, we have a garden!
Spencer has been interested in living things for a lot of his 12 years and recently became interested in growing things. It started with Youtube videos of people eating hot peppers. So then he wanted to grow peppers. Even though he doesn't really care for hot things too much. He and Laurel did some hot pepper challenge that caused both of them to vomit, which ended his career as a hot pepper taster.
I'm not kidding.
Anyway, my future naturalist and I discovered the book Grow Great Grub by Gayla Trail at the library, which led us to her yougrowgirl.com website. Gayla's approach to gardening is so far from perfectionistic that I fell in love immediately. Her 'you can grow stuff anywhere' attitude made me feel excited about gardening, not freaked out that I wouldn't get it right.
So, off we went in search of containers and plants.
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Herbs galore, plus radishes and carrots.[/caption]The more we read the more we wanted to try growing.
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Beans, cucumbers, and why not strawberries?[caption id="attachment_613" align="alignnone" width="604"]
Why, yes, potatoes CAN grow in trash cans.[/caption]It's funny how when you let go of your fear of not doing something perfectly you're free to just get on with doing something.
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Every urban gardener needs a rain barrel.[/caption]In fact, I daresay letting go of perfection allows you to have fun. Everything in our garden is an experiment. We're journaling what we're doing so that we know what works and what doesn't work. We've got peanuts growing in an old tote, radishes and lettuce in an old baby pool, and hot peppers scattered around the yard. I love waking early every morning and surveying the work that is being done in our garden. I love that everyday there is a little change to be seen.
I am also enjoying the camaraderie to be shared with fellow gardeners. Trading tips and tricks makes me feel like I'm in the club. Spencer never ceases to impress people with his knowledge of growing all types of plants. I just stand back and watch as he explains how it is to people we meet at the plant stand. We've learned that eggshells keep away slugs (although my friend Abigail really likes to handpick them, says she loves the slimy little buggers), and that earth worm castings DO make the soil nice and rich.
I'll keep you posted on how things grow around here. I cannot wait to not have to pay for tomatoes!
I love viney veggies lately-more forgiving and tend to grow over the weeds. :) And your potatoes look awesome!
ReplyDeleteI love growing all things and love that you are doing it too! I remember a comment on one of my posts about your son loving to garden - such a great thing to nurture this in him. I have a used copy of "You grow girl" to go with my collection of gardening books.
ReplyDeleteMindy, we have had so much fun with this garden. I feel so proud every time I go out and look, and I love talking tomatoes with other gardeners! My son Spencer, though, is the expert gardner. Thanks for reading. :D
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