our first harvest

Outside of basil and cilantro, today was our first garden harvest!

 
The happy gardener would have been content to eat the whole pile right away!

 
It was great how she wanted to get right into the plants with me, lifting up leaves and asking each time "is this one big enough?". She was so gentle with the plants and eager to learn how to pick the beans. I saw a responsible, calm and good listening side of my daughter that NEVER exists. It was AWESOME.

I immediately asked Chris if we could start raising chickens! How that thought occurred to me I have no idea. But how excited Sam was about the beans and how proud I felt that I was growing the food my girls would eat, I absolutely want more of that feeling! I had no idea how empowered I would feel growing my own food. Of course he instantly said a very firm no! We will see!!! 

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The Nitty Gritty!

First let me expand a bit more about this gardening thing. We definitely did not do it right this year. Our tomato plants are basically growing on top of each other. The carrotts are too close together and the bean rows are ridiculously too close to each other. Basically, I tried to crame too much into our space. Which means that actually harvesting the food is a nightmare! I had to lift Sam over the chicken wire fence we have had to put around it (silly rabbits!) and place her feet between two rows of beans but lifting up the leaves to find the ground beneath them. Then I told her she couldn't move at all, just lift up the leaves by her feet and look for beans she thought were big. She got to harvest some and had a great time but it was not kid friendly harvesting at all. Very bummed about this. We will have to reconfigure things for next year to make it easier for the girls to really be involved.

But even with all my mistakes and all the plants that are in our small little garden we are REALLY growing food! I thought it would be fun, maybe help to stock our freezer a bit, but I had no idea that it would make me feel this way. Empowering is really the best way I can describe it. And now I want to do so much more!

Second, I added a ton of books to the Must See Children's Book page. So if you haven't taken a look at the list lately be sure to check it out.

Comments

[Mama Pea Pod]

Yay! Well done, both of you! Never mind about mistakes - that's how you learn, right? Those beans do look delicious just like that!