My Deep Dark Gardening Secret
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 9:50AM 
It's good to step out of your comfort zone, right? This is what I'm telling myself as I embark on the Garden Challenge, hosted by The Homeschool Village for the next two months. I have NEVER gardened - I garden vicariously through my husband, who has always been the one to keep our raised beds going. I'm very good with houseplants and potted plants on our deck, but beyond that I'm quite inept - or maybe it's that I've never tried. I'm also not one of those supermoms who homeschools, cooks, cleans, gardens - just not my forte. I'm confessing here in front of the whole blogosphere - MY NAME IS MARY AND I HAVE NEVER GARDENED!
I grew up in south Florida, just a few blocks from the beach, so we didn't really "garden". (I can identify lots of marine life and seashells, though.) My husband, however, comes from a family of gardeners, and we've always had raised beds in the two homes where we've lived. Currently we are on two acres and have a huge backyard and a large raised bed.
This spring, the garden is tilled and looking quite lonely. My sweet husband works long hours and on the weekends devotes much of his time to my son's baseball team and church commitments. The rest of yard has lots of nice landscaping that requires pruning, mowing, etc... It's a big job. He has declared he will not be planting a garden this year. What?!?! Who's going to do it? If it's going to be done it looks like it's up to the children and I, and frankly I'm very nervous.
Here's what I'm starting with; a large raised bed just next to the swing set. We have grown zucchini (I have a great zucchini bread recipe from years of them from our garden) , yellow squash, peppers, tomatoes, and lots of mint (which never dies - comes back every year) with much success in the past. We even did wildflowers and sunflowers one year, which was fun. Last year the deer got at the garden, so I know we need some way to keep the critters out. I'm so clueless.
I thought it might be easier to container garden up on our deck - I already have this out there because Southern Living Magazine had a great article about making your own strawberry containers. See? I did that.
I've also been thinking maybe we should just do a mini garden unit and container garden and also grow beans and corn with our Tops Science kit from Sonlight. Maybe this is a good place for a novice such as myself to start. I pulled out the kit and we've also read our favorite gardening books, Inch by Inch: The Garden Song (I can sing you a song about gardening, doesn't that count for something?) and The Trellis and the Seed (this is such a lovely book about faith and a seed by Jan Karon - perfect for all ages).
If you any advice for me I'd really appreciate it. I'm going to explore some links -- and this post from Susan at Prairie Lily Arts called "Just Dig In" really looks helpful, too. I'm telling myself that whatever my children and I do together will be meaningful, and certainly more than they would be getting in the public school.
For now, I'll leave you with this awesome John Denver/The Muppets video of "Inch by Inch: The Garden Song" - it's a lovely book, so look for it at your library or on Amazon - it would be a great addition to your library. Share this video with your little ones - it's so precious.
Reader Comments (11)
I love the strawberry plant! This is the 1st Ive ever seen one
I blog hopped from the HSV Garden Challenge. I am also going to try (for the first time) to start a garden with my kiddo. A website that I was looking at is
http://www.kiddiegardens.com/index.html
It seems to have a lot of great information and activities to do with your kids. good luck!
Ok this is me cheering you on! Go Mary! You can do it!
I have to worry about deer and my goats eating my garden. This is actually my first year as a farm wife dealing with animal and gardening... I think we should start a support group :)
I remember watching that as a kid! I just loved the Muppets! :)
Blessings to you,
http://www.ilovemy5kids.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Lana @ ilovemy5kids
LOL Mary....looking forward to seeing what springs up! I love the muppets! Go Mary Go!
woo hoo - muppets! Girl - you have me cracking up, thanks for the confession!!
I wish I had some tips for ya but this is my second year gardening and my first year I failed, lol.
I wanted so bad to participate in this challenge, I love to garden. I look forward to seeing all that everyone does in this challenge.
You can do it!! You can garden!! This year will be a learning experience but it should be fun. The hardest part in gardening for me is the harvest time. I love watching the little plants grow but as soon as the bee's come around (who I attract with flowers because we need 'em) I FREAK out and the garden goes crazy with weeds. Argh! Hoping to be better this year. I just wish I wasn't allergic to bee stings. SIGH!
Take care!
Dee
Looks like you're off to a great start!
Best wishes! I like how your garden is right by the play area - I wish I had something similar so I could get some work done while my daughter is playing... We had the deer problem last year, so I don't even want to think about planting this year if we don't get a fence.