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| Our neglected cabbage holdovers |
"Mama, I want to dig in the dirt," my preschooler called out today. She made me so proud, especially since she's the youngest in a long line of family farmers. Okay, so we're not exactly able to farm these days. But we're excited about enough yard space to at least grow our own little organic garden each year.
She was eyeing the big patch of dirt that was last year's garden, where we'll be doing a lot of soil amending very soon. We noticed something dark red, small and leafy. Sure enough, it was a hint of cabbage plant poking up where we planted cabbage seeds last October. Good thing we weren't counting on that crop to feed us through the winter; nonetheless it was rewarding to see something growing. We'd given up on the garden about the time we adopted a puppy last fall who found sport in digging up vegetables, including the last of our sweet peppers.
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| Our overwintered broccoli |
Another reminder that plants will grow, despite our mistakes, is our fledgling crop of broccoli. This started from the seed that my preschooler grabbed from the envelope and flung around the casual flower garden next to the driveway. Amazingly, these plants just keep growing and growing. We did not properly cut or pinch the first growth of the broccoli heads. So instead of large, mild growth we have leggy, somewhat bitter broccoli. The leaves have still served as a green that I've cooked from time to time.
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| Our baby blueberry bush |
My trusty assistant stood by while we planted our new blueberry bush we bought from Useful Plants Nursery in Asheville. You can find all of the instructions on planting berry bushes and more at the nursery's website.
In the process of planting our blueberry bush on the slope, we disturbed a tuft of wild onions. What a great lesson for a kid with a faith-based background.
"Who makes the plants grow?"
preschooler: "God does."
"That's right, they need sun and rain and dirt, but God makes them grow."
In the case of our wild onions, I'll be cooking some up with potatoes later today, and we did nothing but pick, wash and saute them. (Don't eat anything you find wild unless you're sure of what it is. There are numerous sources for identifying wild edibles.)
In the process of planting our blueberry bush on the slope, we disturbed a tuft of wild onions. What a great lesson for a kid with a faith-based background.
"Who makes the plants grow?"
preschooler: "God does."
"That's right, they need sun and rain and dirt, but God makes them grow."
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| Our wild onions |
Next week: the dirt on getting started in the garden...some advice from real experts (myself excluded) and what we pledge to do better this year...