An Act of Optimism
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Homemaking on Friday, June 04, 2010 4:39 PM
Yesterday evening we went to buy plants and seeds for this year’s vegetable garden.
We also bought manure, five bags of it. This was thrilling for Camilla since we used a flat cart to transport them and she got a chance to ride on it. She never gets to stand up in the cart! And this time she got to stand up ON it! So exciting!
She also asked what was in the bags, but refused to believe me when I told her. (I used the phrase “cow poop,” which is not the most polite way of putting it, but you have to speak plainly with three-year-olds or they won’t know what you’re talking about.)
She kept saying, “What’s in them, Mama?” and then I would tell her, and then she’d shriek with laughter and insist that I was teasing her. I guess the concept of manure is a little strange if you’ve never thought about it before.
This is our third year with a box garden in our backyard, and it’s planting time! In Michigan you’ve got to wait until mid-May to avoid the chance of frost, and we’re not super-organized, so it always ends up being June before we plant. It works fine, though. And if all goes well, we’ll have an abundance of fresh tomatoes, plenty of sweet basil (we love pesto, and you can freeze it), and successful crops of green beans, cucumbers, and snow peas. We’ve had mixed success in the past, but every year we set our hopes high again.
Gardening doesn’t run in my family. My mom describes herself as having a “black thumb” and swears she’s even managed to kill a hardy African violet. But I really enjoy growing vegetables in our yard, and I enjoy eating them even more. My husband has fun too. Even last year, when our tomatoes got a blight and our cucumber plants yielded two measly, misshapen green cukes, we enjoyed it.
So we keep trying. I plan to recruit Camilla for the daily task of watering, since recently my father-in-law let her water his garden and she did a beautifully meticulous job. The kids and I are going to have fun checking the plants for signs of growth, as long as I can keep Blaise from pulling the seedlings out of the ground! And in a couple months, I’m sure, we’re going to have a delightful crop of our own, freshly-grown veggies.
The manure is going to help us get there, too. Just don’t ask my daughter what it is. Despite my attempts to tell her, she still insists she has no idea. The girl is in denial.
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