Gardening 101

As I'm writing this, I'm incredibly thankful that I can homeschool because it means I get to spend time with my kids and teach them things I think they should know, at a pace that works for them. Sometimes, I don't feel quite as positive about my decision to keep my kids out of public school for various reasons (like that I rarely just bump into another mom who homeschools, so I almost always end up having an awkward conversation just after another parent asks my twins what grade they're in.). But today, we had a blast.

The temperature is starting to ramp up, so we went to the local garden center, yesterday. I'm excited to say we went to a local garden center instead of Home Depot or any of a number of other chain places. This is not to suggest that I avoid Home Depot, but I do love the concentrated learning experience at local shops.

There were an incredible number of tools, trees, flowers, vegetables... and some fluffy little chicks. It's really too bad we can't have chickens in Aurora. The kids agree, and this may end up being an interesting segue into local politics. C seems particularly disappointed that there should be a law against small livestock where we live, and asked me about how we could change that multiple times this week. So, instead of chickens, we brought home a variety of seeds.

D wants to plant a "three sisters garden" with corn, beans and squash. I want to grow some butterfly-attracting flowers, and the girls each picked one packet of seeds. C picked some type of squash that is supposed to look like a hen's egg. S picked carrots. M picked miniature pumpkins. I've never grown anything edible before, so we'll see how this goes.

Of course, since we just bought this house this winter, we needed a garden hose. And since we moved here from an apartment, we were also lacking gardening hand tools. We also bought pruning sheers for the several over-grown rose and holly bushes we now own.

Early this week, we uncovered the planting beds, hand-tilled their soil, planted the girls' seeds, and watered them. It was a fun process. They learned why we cover our planters in the winter, how and why we till the soil before we plant,  that worms are great for your garden (and we're fortunate that our planters already have some), how we plant each type of seed and why they shouldn't all just be scattered on flat soil.

I love gardening with kids because it's an on-going learning experience for all of us. And, in the end, it provides its own rewards.

Unfortunately, it snowed last night. C's first guitar lesson and S's first real soccer game were canceled due to snow-related complications. We did manage to cover the beds with tarps when we noticed the first flurries, so hopefully we'll be able to save them. If not, we may be replanting.