If you've been following my community garden story, you know that a few weeks ago we weeded the wrong plot due to a labeling blooper. You can read about it here. With rain and other things keeping us away, today was the first day we could check out the right garden plot. My kids were worried we'd have a repeat of the weeding we did a few weeks ago, but thankfully the weeds were few and easy to pull. And the plot is HUGE! Twice as big as we first thought.
We turned the soil and spread compost, then headed to my favorite nursery to buy a few seedlings. I wanted the kids to feel a sense of accomplishment and thought we'd have plenty of space for seedlings and the seeds I intended to sow. You know that old saying your eyes are bigger than your belly? And how the kids always want the 20 foot Christmas tree because it really looks shorter out in the field, forgetting you only have 8 foot ceilings. Well, our seedling shopping went something like that. The kids were exuberant and chose all sorts of favorites, including corn. I hadn't intended to plant corn at all-it's hardly worth the effort when it's so plentiful at farm stands in the summer. However, the kids REALLY wanted corn so we got a six pack.
Then I remembered I'd always wanted to try a Three Sisters Garden. Corn is one of the three sisters. More about that tomorrow.
I thought about getting a few single plants, but my master gardener pointed out the six packs were a better value. Made sense.
We returned to the garden to plant our seedlings. We had WAY more than we needed. In no time at all that huge bed was full and overcrowded with plants I really hadn't intended on growing. Those kids were just so persuasive (and cute) and on the bright side, if they chose it, they'll probably eat it, right? I removed some to plant at home and give to relatives. I'm still worried we'll have some vines escaping over the sides of our bed but we'll deal with that later.
Above: My Comic.
My daughter noticed that birds are living in the birdhouses around the place. With a zoom lens, I got this shot. The bird didn't seem upset at all by my presence. My daughter can't wait to see if any baby birds hatch in the coming weeks. We'll keep you posted.
Watering the garden plot.
