May Long weekend came (in Canada, it’s Victoria Day that we celebrate) and brought us a deadline that I had been anxiously awaiting: it was transplanting time!
My plant babies had been living under their (possibly dangerous) lights in our laundry room for quite some time, and I was getting sick to death of worrying about them and watering them endlessly. Every time it rained – which is a lot when you live in the Pacific Northwest – I would think, “Wouldn’t it be nice if these plant babies could go live outside? Like big-boy plants?”
And so we transplanted our seedlings! We also planted carrot, radish, and bean seeds. I have never been able to grow carrots that weren’t either in minature or suffering from some sort of terrible genetic mutation. I let the girls plant the carrot seeds this year. I need a scapegoat in case this crop fails like the others.
Lucy was quite happy to toddle around behind me and plant seeds when instructed to. Lila got her Organizational Hat on and set to work making row labels. This is a picture of a bean growing on a vine.
We visited a demonstration garden with Lila’s class this week, where we learned all about worm composting. I am ever the keener (I swear, it’s been programmed into me, I cannot shake it), and so when we found a worm, I was all, “This is a teachable moment! Girls! Girls!”
And the girls were all, “This is disgusting.”
We went back to planting and watering.
And admiring our small successes (our peas are growing! They’re actually happening)…
Or trying to overlook our small failures. Come ON lettuce! You’re weak! WEAK!
(I don’t know that Veggie Boot Camp works on limp lettuce the way it does on women who are trying to lose that 15 lbs of post-pregnancy weight… but it’s worth a shot!)
We dusted off our hands and put away our shovels (and rakes and buckets and Sharpies and popsicle sticks) and admired our work. We have five raised beds this year. It’s amazing.
It’s also a lot of pressure. These bad boys had better grow.
Like Hubby says, “These tomatoes are going to cost us $50/lb by the time you’re done.”
Har-dee-har. But they’re grown with love, darling. You can’t buy that at the grocery store!
Ooooh… but you CAN buy these! I treated myself to a pair of Bogs Rue garden clogs as a bit of a Mother’s Day/I’m Awesome gift when I saw that they were on a super-duper clearance sale on Amazon (some sizes are still available in insanely cheap prices, if you’re coveting a pair of Bogs like I was). Let me tell you, the hype over Bogs is for a reason. These shoes are com-fy. I call them “duck boots”, and I don’t know if that’s even the proper name, but I really love clomping around in them. Trouble is, Bogs can fit a bit small, so I ordered up a size.
That size may rhyme with “schmelve”.
GAH! I know! I’m Big Foot’s estranged sister. I destroyed the box immediately. I don’t need reminders that my feet are huge. They’re always there, right beneath me… reminding me…
“You have to shop at Payless… You have to shop at Payless….”
Jerks.
Boat-feet aside, the gardening/transplanting has seemed to be a success. Nothing, aside from that pathetic bunch of lettuce, has wilted or turned brown… so far. The girls are still interested in watering and weeding the garden, though I do get a bit worried when Lucy comes out waggling a trowel, “I dig for buried treasure, Mommy?”
Errrm… how about no?
Follow Along and See How Our Garden Grows!
15 comments
Mary
Hi Tara, I want you to know that my earliest memories are of my mom sreaming at me to stop eating the worms! I used to find them and suck on them and then spit them out. Now you should be happy your daughters find them disgusting…
Auntie Mary
Tara
That is quite the image. I can imagine why your mother was hollering at you. So you had a mouth full of dirt and worms? I love it!
Mel
You can’t go wrong with lettuce it will be fine it’s super easy to grow! Yay good for you xo
Tara
Oh no – don’t tell me that it’s easy to grow. I’ll be a sobbing heap when my lettuce fails and wilts. 😉
Fingers crossed that it’s a successful crop. I have a knack for garden hijinx. 🙂
Kenz @ Interiors By Kenz
haha YES! I love your little garden. One of these years I’m going to actually do it. The first summer after Aaron and I were married, I planted tomatoes. And they died. So yeah… everyone always says it’s impossible to kill tomatoes. But you know, I like to challenge the impossible. What can I say?
But next year I’ll be brave enough to actually garden again. Maybe.
Tara
Oh, I don’t think it’s impossible to kill tomatoes! I think that they need to be babied and hovered over. You’re not alone there!
I also have heard that roses are the hardiest plant out there. Well, I’m pretty sure that two of mine died this year. TWO! Awesome track record there.
Danni@SiloHillFarm
How fun to spend time with your girls gardening! Looks like it’s coming along nicely Tara!
Tara
Thanks, Danni. I know that you’re very proficient in the art of growing stuff – I hope to have a small-to-medium harvest from these beds. (Though honestly, if I got two tomatoes and a head of lettuce, I’d do a dance of glee!)
Clydia @ Three Mango Seeds
Good Luck with your garden lady & those little girls of yours are darling! xoxo
Tara
Oh thank you, Clydia! They’re trying to be helpful gardeners… though I do worry that plants are going to be plucked from their beds willy-nilly. It’s a danger when you let kidlets help… they might try to “help” when you’re not looking! 🙂
Krista @thehappyhousie
Lol Tara! You are too hilarious. Good luck to your little planties… last year I planted my tomatoes too close together and they ended up in a big jumbled mess with lots rotting underneath the cage of intertwined tomato branches. This year will hopefully be better:)
Krista
Tara
Thanks – I hope that my plants make it all the way to harvest time. I’m worried that my tomatoes might do the same and become a giant tangled mess. I have a few in pots, but then I worry if the pots are big enough. Why is this gardening thing so worrisome?!?! GAH!
Amy of while wearing heels
Hilarious! Teachable moment…hahaha! They didn’t embrace that worm, huh? And, if course veggies grown with love are worth the cost. When your big footed wife laboratory over tomatoes you just go along with it…or, you go to the store and buy a few and place them near the vines 🙂
Tara
That’s right – when the Sasquatch wants to garden, you let her garden! 😉
I hope that if my tomatoes ARE a huge fat failure that Hubby thinks to go buy some tomatoes and stage them in the garden. I’ll go along with it – I just want SOMETHING to come from this gardening saga!