Gargantuan Garden

I have always felt that I was able to do anything, to make, or plant or produce anything I really needed.  Baby clothes/items for my kids, knitted items, I try to save money where I can by doing things myself, though it usually ends up getting more expensive, as per my husband. I'm not sure if this was nature or nurture, but what I do know is that most always, I have had the confidence to do (or at least try) anything that came to mind, and still do.

It doesn't always end in success, like when my husband told me that I probably shouldn't try to paint that piece of furniture I was going to attempt to re-purpose and use in our daughter's nursery. He was right, it was too slippery (even after sanding and priming) to re-purpose. I was too stubborn to listen and painted 2 shelves before I gave up and decided it wasn't do-able. 

I have always liked the idea of growing my own food.  At our last house, we had two, 8'x8 'garden beds and a few potted tomato plants on our porch.  Now that we live on the farm, this, is my garden.

The open space/yard north of our house.  We're also planning to add a wind/sound break just west of here to cut down on the motorcycle/plow noise in the summer/winter.

This is the garden...look how small by baby looks next to it!

GULP!  It still needs to be tilled up one last time before planting, and we're not quite sure the frost is gone for good yet.  What a horrible, horrible winter we had.  When we do plant, it might take me an entire day to get the seeds in!

This year, we have seeds or starters for: Potatoes, spinach, 4 packets of green beans, zucchini, butternut squash, sweet corn, cucumbers and pumpkins.  We also have blueberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes and strawberry plants to plant in a separate area.  I plan to add rhubarb in the fall, when it's ideal to plant it.

Graham had to have pumpkins, and he loves blueberries. We are in the 'sweet corn, sweet spot' in our area (apparently it's prime soil for sweet corn) and one of the most delightful fruits of our summer gardening labor last year, was to be able to serve green beans from our garden for Christmas dinner.  You just can't buy them that sweet-especially in the dead of winter.

Here is my problem with gardening: I am terrible at plants. When they start to emerge, I have a tendency to pull the plants and leave the weeds.  Idiot.  Though in my defense, the last couple of years, I've either just had a baby or had a young infant (or two) and been unable to spend the necessary time outside to properly maintain the garden.

So this year, my goal is to maintain the garden on the days I am home, with Graham's help.  As a parent, I want to instill in my children the value of hard work.  You want to eat the vegetables? Then you need to help with the upkeep.  You want to show the sheep? Then you need to collect pop cans and other change to afford the entry fees (or at least part of them).  I don't believe that he he is too young to learn these lesson. He may not be able to cover the entire entry fee or want to eat everything we grow, but as a parent, it's my job to teach him these things don't come easy or without hard work, dedication and committment.

In high school, my economics teacher, Mr Phillips, always said, "there's no free lunch." And boy was he right.  I just hope that I can raise my children to be compassionate, independent, self-sufficient, productive members of society. Too often, we try to make things easy for our kids.  Sometimes, letting them fail while the stakes are low, teaches them the most in life and helps them to be good problem-solvers and better decision makers in the long run.

[Off my soap box]

So it's my goal to make our family garden, a labor of love until the fall brings frost.