Planting My Garden

Spring is here!  The question is...is winter over?  Not in some places in the country, but it felt close to 80 degrees here in Texas today.  So why not plant a garden?!  It sure felt like spring, so my dad came over and re-engineered my garden to ensure the neighborhood bunnies only have a window seat to my growing garden!  He replaced some rotting boards, put in some sturdier wooden stakes and stapled down the chicken wire fence all around it.  It looks great!  Now we just have to wait for the plants to sprout up and bear beautiful veggies!!  Oh, and hope it rains.  Yes, I water it occasionally, but I'm not the nurturer my dad is, so I usually just cross my fingers and get delighted when I get to go out and pick my mini-harvest.

It's such a great way to get your family involved in a project that not only feeds your family naturally grown produce, but also shows them how and where our food supply comes from.  It's a great educational lesson for kids and may help them appreciate and eat more veggies if they have a hand in growing what they eat!  So, give it a try this spring...even if it is just a tomato plant!

I remember growing up on the farm and having a garden in our back yard.  It was a pretty good size garden and my brother and I always helped my mom with it.  I remember the rhubarb and strawberries and I'm sure there were plenty of other veggies, but I remember those two things the most.  My aunts and uncles who still live up north all have gardens and have such great veggies because it gets cooler in the evenings up there versus down here it stays hot all day and night long.  So, we can't grow many types of lettuce or cabbage, or rhubarb (sadly), or cauliflower, broccoli, celery or strawberries.  It just gets too hot down here!  Drab.  

I always get really good green beans and last year I did get kale to grow and butternut squash.  In years past, I've gotten tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers.  But, my dad has the most plentiful garden...because he IS the eternal farmer and gardener!  He grows sweet corn (of course!), watermelon, cantaloupe, green beans, radish, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, onions, butternut squash, cucumbers, pumpkins and occasionally carrots and potatoes.  YUM!!

So in a couple months we'll be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor...well, mostly my dad's!  Now, if I could only get my herb garden to grow...and last!  Third time is the charm, right?!  Enjoy the start of your spring...whether you are planting your own garden, flowers or getting your lawn ready for the new year!  Blessings to you this week...and watch out for April Fool's Day!