Kate, Ben and their kids, Irene and Ezra, have decided to do a garden at the farm this summer. We are thrilled about this for two reasons. First, it made us get our rears in gear and start thinking about our garden. Secondly, we love having their family up to the farm. They are such good folk and we’re super-excited to have a reason to see more of them this summer.
Today was our first hack at the garden. Susie and Doug, and their kids, Chris and Alex, came to pitch in as well, since my sisters and I try to do a garden each year. We’re trying the anti-weed fabric approach after being almost done in by weeds in years past. We have no clue how to go about this, so we’re considering this summer a scientific experiment—one method here, another there. Add to that some really excited kids who are ready to plant seeds right this very moment pleasepleaseplease, and the whole garden has very little rhyme or reason. But kids are good like that. They force you to throw all your orderly tendencies to the wind and just dig in.
So we’ve got carrots here, corn there. A bed of flowers beyond that. Beans and zucchini somewhere in between. We’ll be happy just to see veggies of any kind emerge, and even if we don’t get that, I still think it’s a great experience for the kids. They hung in there for quite some time, digging and staking while we waved our hands around and tried to make a plan. Tom got out the hose and had them “clean” the mower. Everyone planted a little bit of something, even if it wasn’t quite in the bed.
Most of all, it was just healing to be outside, in the sunshine with good people. It’s one of those things that’s good for the body and the soul, and I need to make more time for that kind of stuff.
Thanks to Susie for taking some of these photos while I had my hands full.