The kids and I began our week of gardening yesterday. We combined the two raised beds that I had and began weeding. Autumn was more persistent than Sami. Eli only wanted to dig into the dirt and throw it out of the bed. My parsley that had survived the winter was one of his first casualties. I also got the area mowed. My friend Jenny came over to talk to me about our garden. We talked about a lot of things, but the first big one was that I need to map the sun--which I need to run and begin right now.
One of the main ideas from a book I'm reading, Dirt Cheap Green Thumb by Rhonda Massingham Hart, is to pick the right plants for the right areas. One of the first things the book recommends is mapping the area of your garden as full sun/partial sun/shade. It doesn't say to make a map hour by hour as my friend advised me. She has taken that one step farther--after all how do you figure out if it's full sun unless you observe it and write down your observations? I was glad to already have the idea in my head from the book and then have her reinforce to me how much it matters. The point of mapping the sun is that if you don't put plants where they like to be, it will be a waste of time, energy, and money. Put them where they want to be and you'll be happier--and so will they!
I learned this last year when I put some hostas in a spot that they did not like! They quickly withered and faded. Lesson learned.
So, that is my task today: to map the hours of sun in different areas of my garden.
My other tasks are to weed my existing beds in front of the deck and make another trip to Lowe's for supplies to build my raspberry bed and the raised beds for the kids.
I was surprised at how I was tired after 2 1/2 hours yesterday of hard work in the garden. Wow! What a wimp I am! I can't imagine how strong farmers from days of old must have been (and how strong their children must have been).
Book Note...we did open up the book I mentioned yesterday Kids Garden! and I learned why the tasks are so simply planned. The kids listened to the circular poem I read them, looked at the page with the tools and their descriptions, and read with me what weeds are (my older daughter knew exactly what the definition was from her science!). Then my older daughter began weeding and my middle daughter used the kids shovel I bought at Lowe's (a great investment for $4--not plastic) to help me move the raised beds closer together and combine them. My 3 year old son wandered around and eventually settled into his sand box (after killing my parsley).
Post Script...
I just looked out the window and realized that it is overcast. I won't be able to map the sun today! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for it. I guess that is going to need to be delayed. But, it is supposed to rain and Dirt Cheap Green Thumb notes in the first chapter that you need to test how well the water drains in your garden (with an easy test) and I will likely be able to do that after today!
Showing posts with label gardening and kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening and kids. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Gardening Books
I am a novice gardener. When we lived in Georgia, my husband planted a small garden. I can honestly say that I had nothing to do with it. It was entirely his project. When we moved here to Maryland, my husband chose a big spot in our backyard and planned his garden. By the end of the summer, I was taking care of the garden because he ran out of time on the weekends between our kids and mowing the lawn and his other hobbies. We didn't have a garden for the next two years. One year I tried and within minutes of planting it and putting a fence around it, our puppy had tackled the fence and torn my garden to shreds. So, the next year, no garden except for my front flower bed.
I wanted simple, easy and cheap. So, I went with strawberries and dusty miller. My dusty miller took off! My strawberries did too and they quickly multiplied. My two plants became 4 and then 8. I planted a few bulbs, since they would come back year after year and planted two blue salvia plants that have also come back two years in a row. My front flower bed is now full two years later full of strawberry plants, dusty miller and blue salvia. My daffodils in the corner brought the first sign of spring.
Then last year, my husband built a wooden fence for me so that I could have a dog-free garden. It was a much bigger project than I realized. I am thankful that my husband did it. It was a bit of a peace keeping effort for me and our dog, Molly. It is my space. Molly has no part in it. I do not have to stress about her digging in my garden and it keeps me from yelling at her more than I already do about digging.
So, I planted in my garden. My failures were many and my successes a few.
My successes were all mixed with my failures:
--I bought a trellis from Aldis and planted sweet peas plants (which died) on one side and bean seeds on the other side which climbed all over the trellis. I loved looking at the beautiful vines.
--I bought pepper, tomato, celery, basil, parsley, and several herb plants. I even planted Marigolds near my tomatoes to incorporate companion planting. Of all my plants, my parsley, marigolds, and basil did well. But, many of them were complete flops! The hot peppers did well too--except that we never did anything with them! My parsley and lemon balm both survived the winter and have come back this spring.
--I planted one rose that my kids gave me for mother's day. My friend helped me with the detailed planting instructions needed for a rose and my rose took off. It went a little crazy, though, so I pruned it back pretty drastically this spring. I hope it will survive!
--I planted two strawberries two years ago that multiplied last year.
Sadly, I am a bit controlling in my cooking and gardening and I realize it. In the same way that I am trying to find ways to "lighten up" and relax about my cooking with my kids, it is my desire to do the same with my kids and my garden.
So, here's my plan. They are going to get to have their own special raised bed where they get to plant what they want to plant. They will get to weed it, water it, and plant in it. After they learn how to take care of their garden, they can move into my space where I've planted. There are other little things that they will be able to help me do like pull the weeds from the rock walkway. I'm also going to plant two azaleas around the rose bush so that they won't accidentally end up touching the thorny rose bush.
In my quest for encouragement and advice about how to enjoy gardening with my kids, I began searching for a book to help me. I realize that I am a book person! Much of this is because with 3 kids, I don't have the time to sit with someone for hours and ask all the questions that I have. I also don't have a mom or grandma nearby to teach me. My parents had a huge garden when I was growing up, but it was a bear to me because my dad was very picky about it. The only job I had was to water, which had to be done in a very particular way. I actually never remember planting anything in the garden or preparing the soil. He wanted things done a particular way. I don't want to be that way with my kids. So, I've known I need some good advice to help me through this. In a book, the advice is also all written down so I can come back and refer to to what I read when I forget it--since I'm always forgetting things! I do have a great friend Jenny who has been so helpful with the questions I bring to her and she's coming over to help me get started on Monday with my garden. The biggest blessing from my conversations with her is that she always encourages me to relax and take it easy--something I always need to be encouraged in when it comes to my kids. As much as I would like things to come our right (or what I think right is), that isn't really the goal. The goal is to help them learn and enjoy what they are learning. In this case, I want them to enjoy gardening, being outside, and loving God's creation.
So, being the book person that I am, I started looking for a book (in addition to my friend Jenny) to encourage me in my gardening with my kids and to help me know what I need to teach them and what are even the most realistic and enjoyable things to do with them. I looked at a lot of books at the library and then I ordered one sight unseen. It turned out to be my favorite and thankfully it was the one I'd purchased. It's from the Williamson Kids Can! series (which I am really coming to love) and it is called Kids Garden! I need to go to bed now, but I'll write a little more come Monday about why I liked this particular book over others and what I found when I looked for a gardening book for kids. After that, I'm going to write a few posts about the gardening books that I'm enjoying and learning from....
I wanted simple, easy and cheap. So, I went with strawberries and dusty miller. My dusty miller took off! My strawberries did too and they quickly multiplied. My two plants became 4 and then 8. I planted a few bulbs, since they would come back year after year and planted two blue salvia plants that have also come back two years in a row. My front flower bed is now full two years later full of strawberry plants, dusty miller and blue salvia. My daffodils in the corner brought the first sign of spring.
Then last year, my husband built a wooden fence for me so that I could have a dog-free garden. It was a much bigger project than I realized. I am thankful that my husband did it. It was a bit of a peace keeping effort for me and our dog, Molly. It is my space. Molly has no part in it. I do not have to stress about her digging in my garden and it keeps me from yelling at her more than I already do about digging.
So, I planted in my garden. My failures were many and my successes a few.
My successes were all mixed with my failures:
--I bought a trellis from Aldis and planted sweet peas plants (which died) on one side and bean seeds on the other side which climbed all over the trellis. I loved looking at the beautiful vines.
--I bought pepper, tomato, celery, basil, parsley, and several herb plants. I even planted Marigolds near my tomatoes to incorporate companion planting. Of all my plants, my parsley, marigolds, and basil did well. But, many of them were complete flops! The hot peppers did well too--except that we never did anything with them! My parsley and lemon balm both survived the winter and have come back this spring.
--I planted one rose that my kids gave me for mother's day. My friend helped me with the detailed planting instructions needed for a rose and my rose took off. It went a little crazy, though, so I pruned it back pretty drastically this spring. I hope it will survive!
--I planted two strawberries two years ago that multiplied last year.
Sadly, I am a bit controlling in my cooking and gardening and I realize it. In the same way that I am trying to find ways to "lighten up" and relax about my cooking with my kids, it is my desire to do the same with my kids and my garden.
So, here's my plan. They are going to get to have their own special raised bed where they get to plant what they want to plant. They will get to weed it, water it, and plant in it. After they learn how to take care of their garden, they can move into my space where I've planted. There are other little things that they will be able to help me do like pull the weeds from the rock walkway. I'm also going to plant two azaleas around the rose bush so that they won't accidentally end up touching the thorny rose bush.
In my quest for encouragement and advice about how to enjoy gardening with my kids, I began searching for a book to help me. I realize that I am a book person! Much of this is because with 3 kids, I don't have the time to sit with someone for hours and ask all the questions that I have. I also don't have a mom or grandma nearby to teach me. My parents had a huge garden when I was growing up, but it was a bear to me because my dad was very picky about it. The only job I had was to water, which had to be done in a very particular way. I actually never remember planting anything in the garden or preparing the soil. He wanted things done a particular way. I don't want to be that way with my kids. So, I've known I need some good advice to help me through this. In a book, the advice is also all written down so I can come back and refer to to what I read when I forget it--since I'm always forgetting things! I do have a great friend Jenny who has been so helpful with the questions I bring to her and she's coming over to help me get started on Monday with my garden. The biggest blessing from my conversations with her is that she always encourages me to relax and take it easy--something I always need to be encouraged in when it comes to my kids. As much as I would like things to come our right (or what I think right is), that isn't really the goal. The goal is to help them learn and enjoy what they are learning. In this case, I want them to enjoy gardening, being outside, and loving God's creation.
So, being the book person that I am, I started looking for a book (in addition to my friend Jenny) to encourage me in my gardening with my kids and to help me know what I need to teach them and what are even the most realistic and enjoyable things to do with them. I looked at a lot of books at the library and then I ordered one sight unseen. It turned out to be my favorite and thankfully it was the one I'd purchased. It's from the Williamson Kids Can! series (which I am really coming to love) and it is called Kids Garden! I need to go to bed now, but I'll write a little more come Monday about why I liked this particular book over others and what I found when I looked for a gardening book for kids. After that, I'm going to write a few posts about the gardening books that I'm enjoying and learning from....
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