Three weekends ago, I got the bug to plant a vegetable garden, even though we are currently renting our home. I remembered back to a time about 18 years ago when my husband and I were renting a small apartment with a cute little patio. We built a raised-bed planter and I filled it full of beautiful flowers. We also had a couple of vegetable plants including cherry tomatoes and peppers. I remember our house pet at the time, an adorable black English Angora bunny named "Raider", loved the cherry tomatoes. He would dance circles around our feet begging for them and we gave him so many that he got fat (or perhaps it was all the graham crackers-he begged for them too).
So I decided that it would be a fun project for me and the girls to grow our own food. I knew Pearl loves veggies and I hoped this would motivate Chloe to try some. The first weekend we built the planter and the next weekend we planted the little plants and some seeds. I know I got carried away and planted things a little too closely, but I am hoping some climbing cages will solve that problem. We planted tomatoes (four kinds), peppers (three kinds), zucchini, pickles, eggplant, yellow squash, pumpkins, green onions, basil, cilantro, radishes and purple carrots. They aren't all in that tiny planter. We also made some rows in the yard for the pumpkins and squash. I am a total beginner at this, so I am sure it won't all go just perfectly, but I do expect we'll have a bumper crop of tomatoes.
Throughout it all, my little Chloe has been helping me step by step. She planted the seeds and watered them. She was the first to notice that the onions had started to sprout. They are super tiny right now.
I think now is the perfect time for my girls to learn about growing things and healthy eating.
A few weeks ago, there was a stray cat at the elementary school. She wasn't friendly at first, but Chloe jiggled some marbles at her and she followed Chloe all the way home. Since we put some food out for her, she decided to stay and become another member of our family. She is so pretty..........don't you think? We named her Angelina. Angelina is our second cat. We adopted Sarafina last August and we still have her. Both of them have the typical tortie pattern, but Angelina also has some beautiful white patches.
Chloe was the first to notice the onions sprouting after only 7 days.
4 comments:
Love it! We planted potatoes (red) in our side yard once and the kids loved it! You will love having home grown tomatoes this summer!!
we plant a big garden but its still too cold here we have to wait until the end of May. Love those big gorgeous clear eyes.
That is awesome! We are planting a raised garden too. It is still too cold here so we have to wait another few weeks but I am excited. It's been about two years since we had a garden.
Love your garden! We just started a few seeds (indoors, too early for outside here) and I am even going to pop some veggies in the mix but...I am afraid the deer and bunnies will scarf it all up and not leave much for us! We shall see. Lucky you to have such a good helper!
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