A matter of perspective...

Dear Loyal and Dedicated KinderGARDENers,

Please forgive me for my extended abscence in blog land. I wish I had some fabulous excuse to explain my lengthy leave, but really...it's just life, I guess (A tonsilectomy, two trips to the beach, a little camping, and a brand new Kindergartener).

I have missed you all and thought about you (and your beautiful gardens and veggie eating children and furry little farm creatures) quite often over the past month. Do you hear the green-eyed monster rearing it's ugly head? I am more than a little embarassed to admit that my garden is really sufferring (thanks to aforementioned "life" and the fact that we really did overstuff our tiny little farmstead). It's bulging at the seams and it has completely overwhelmed us.

I shamefully admit that I spent one night crying to my husband about the ridiculous amount of nearly rotten tomatoes that remained on the kitchen counter even after I had made two batches of salsa. Yes. I cried over tomatoes. And I begged my husband to take care of them for me, because I couldn't stand to throw them out. The next morning the tomatoes were gone and we haven't spoken of it since. Note to self: Nine tomato plants is about five too many.

As the Beefsteak tomato plant towers above my head, the sweet potatoe vines make the turn and travel around the side of the house, and the green been plants are starting to resemble swiss cheese (thanks to those darn beetles), I find myself avoiding what just months before was such a tidy, calm, growing, peaceful space. Needless to say, I have much to learn about this gardening adventure.

My plan was to update you on our sunflowers (because they were planted far from my overgrown mess farmstead), but the pictures just looked a little pathetic. See?

But then I zoomed in and took a closer look and I saw this

Not so pathetic. Actually, I am surprised by how beautiful this picture is and how happy it makes me feel. I pray that my girls realize the miracle that occured, somewhere between planting those dry, dirty seeds and now.

And I realized that even in the midst of the weeds and the beetles, the rotten tomatoes, and the wandering potatoe vines, my family has gained much from this KinderGARDEN adventure. I look forward to sharing that with all of you next week!

Sincerely,
Holly

For all my non-KinderGARDEN readers, go here to see some amazing gardens and meet the fabulous families who care for them!

Roy G. Biv (special focus on the G)

Are you sitting down? No? You're standing up and looking at the computer? Weird. Are you in the kitchen, standing at the island, searching for a recipe? That's about the only reason I can think of to be standing while on the computer. It doesn't matter...if you're standing, grab a seat. I have some News from the Farmstead. Are you sitting? Okay...this week on the Farmstead, I have learned:

If you plant it and care for it and love it and blow kisses to it and pray for it and photograph it and wait patiently for it, and finally, pick it...

She will eat it!

I'm afraid to type this, for fear that I may jinx it and she'll never eat a green veggie again, but this little girl ate lots of steamed green beans this week. GREEN BEANS. Do you hear the complete and utter shock coming straight through the computer? She ate them (and I'm not even concerned that they were dipped drowned in ranch dressing). I'm focusing on the fact that they were green. beans. Did I mention that they were green. beans? Green. Hooray for the G in between the Roy and the Biv.

There's another little girl in this house who has not caught on yet, but I'm not giving up hope.

There's still tomatoes and peppers and sweet potatoes and carrots and broccoli to pick. She's bound to eat something, right? But I'm not focusing on that right now. Because one little girl in this house ate green. beans.

Today, there is much rejoicing on the Farmstead. Green has become one of my new, favorite colors! Yay for green beans!


Check out other colors of the rainbow on the Week 13 KinderGardens Round Up. Or, you could read the Week 14 KinderGardens updates (I'm late, as usual)!

Big News...

Didn't I tell you? We picked our first vegetable this week...big, BIG news around here!



I'd like to show you what we made with it, but we ate it before I had a chance to take pictures. I could eat zuchinni bread every day...we count it as a vegetable serving around, and my girls and I have been getting plenty of vegetable servings this week!

For more BIG news in gardening, check out the Inadvertent Gardener's KinderGardens Week 12.

In the Moment...

In the midst of my journey through infertility, I joined a support group. No, we did not pass candles down the row and say, "Hi, I'm Holly and I'm infertile." We listened to each other and we talked about our frustrations. We laughed and we cried. We learned to "breath" (both literally and figuratively) through some very sad times, and we celebrated, as one by one, we all became mothers. There is one session from that support group that I remember so clearly. We were all given an M&M. A single, tiny M&M. And we were told to really enjoy the experience of eating one M&M. We were to think about the texture, the taste, the smell, the way it melted, the way it made our mouths feel. I have eaten a million M&Ms (and no, I don't think that's a hyperbole), but I will always remember that one M&M. We live in a society where we shove ten M&Ms in our mouth at one time and never really stop to taste them. That one M&M was a lesson in being present, living in the moment, without thinking about tomorrow or next year...without worrying about what our futures will bring (or not bring). It was a lesson that I desperately needed at that time in my life (and many times since then).

This week's KinderGarden assignment took me right back to that M&M experience. We were to zoom in on the garden, really check it out. And I had the chance to "see" the garden, beyond the growth and the weeds and the tomato stakes, without worrying and speculating and comparing. I just zoomed in and took a minute to "see" the garden, to live in the moment. What a gift. I hope I can find a way to share that perspective with my girls, to help them really "see," and to be present in the moment.









If you're a KinderGarden Reader, I missed the link-up last week. But, lucky for you, you can still read my gardening recap, titled "On Melons and Barbie (but not Barbie's Melons)."
I know you're curious!

To all other readers: Take a minute to check out KinderGardens Week 11 Here!

On Melons and Barbie (but not Barbie's Melons)...

This week, on the farmstead...okay, who am I kidding? These pictures are all from last week. I'm late, again, and I even missed the deadline to submit to the KinderGardens post. I'm fearful that they may throw me right out of the blogroll, snuff out of my torch, and send my lonely, sorry, slacker gardening butt back to my farmstead in the 'hood. But, because I love these pictures and I'm still thrilled with my garden, I'm going to trudge onward with this post.

So, to recap last week, our more experienced and worldly gardening neighbor stopped by to visit the farmstead. He offered lots of tips and advice and thoughts, but overall, he gave us two thumbs up. I'm a "words of affirmation girl." Tell me I'm fabulous and I'll follow you anywhere. Let's just say that neighbor made my whole week...last week (because I'm late, remember?).

My neighbor did kindly suggest that we find a way to tie up our melon vines, lest they grow across the yard and down the street and into the main thoroughfare. My husband decided to tackle that project and I present to you his thoughtful solution:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the melon vines are growing up. Just so you can see how tall they are, I asked Ellie to pose with them. While I find this solution to be aesthetically pleasing and I'm sure it will protect the neighbors from our creeping vines, I'm a little concerned about what's going to happen when the first, heavy melon starts to sprout from the top of that contraption. Steve just laughs and says the melons in this household tend to be on the smallish side (hardy har har) and that he's got a plan, should the melons start to grow. A man with a plan is attractive indeed (even if he does make fun of my melons)!

We have a few cherry tomatoes starting to grow, but nothing is turning red yet. Change colors little tomatoes...we're ready to eat you!

And, the farmstead was proud to host it's first show last week (just between the melons and the zuchinni), featuring Barbie and her good friend Belle.



Later in the day, there was a game of "Hide the Barbie and the Belle" in the garden. We took turns hiding the dolls and searching for them (no laughing...it was actually quite fun). Later that evening, while watering the garden, I was greeted by this lovely sight....
Have I mentioned how much fun this gardening thing is? You just never know what's going to be "popping up" next!

Take a quick hop on over to the Inadvertent Farmer's site and see what's popping up in the world of KinderGardens.

Through the eyes of a child...

My assignment this week for KinderGardens was to hand the camera to my girls and tell them to take pictures of their favorite parts of our "farmstead." I took a few days to figure out how to handle this one, as I wasn't thrilled with the idea of handing my new Nikon D90 to a five-year-old. But in the end, I strapped the camera around her neck, made her promise to be extra, super dooper careful (I'm sure you can picture my stearnest, threatening look as I handed over the camera), and told her to go to it. Kate was thrilled, snapping pictures of her very favorite things (which is pretty much everything in our teenie, tiny garden). But as she snapped the pictures (and I kept my hand just inches from the D90), we had a chance to talk about what she liked most about each plant.

She loves the colorful strawberries (which are being eaten by the resident "mama bird" before I can pick them).

She is thrilled with the delicate yellow flowers on the melon plants.

She thinks that the carrot tops are "awesome and fluffy."

She loves the broccoli and wonders why it has holes all through it (bugs? birds? bunnies?).

She is excited that we finally have some small, green tomatos!

And she wanted the world to know that our sunflowers are making a comeback (thanks to my vigilant bird chasing).


This was a fun "assignment." I loved seeing the garden through Kate's eyes, and I was super impressed with her photography skills. She even turned the camera vertical to take a few pictures! Half of the adult population forgets that their camera can be turned!

Ellie also snapped a few pictures, but they were blurry (mostly because I kept grabbing the camera from her in an effort to protect it from becoming one with the garden)!

Mostly, we're just anxiously awaiting the arrival of some real, live veggies! Oh...and Steve wanted me to show you his masterpiece.

While none of it is from our garden, we are dreaming of the day when our kabobs feature our home-grown delicacies!

Don't forget to check out this week's KinderGarden post for super cute ideas and garden tours!

The Farmer in the 'Hood...

For the past two weeks, I've been ogling the gardens of others. Like this one. Oh...and this one. I am trying hard not to be jealous of these beautiful and sprawling gardens (because bigger gardens = more weeds, right???). At least that's what I tell myself as I'm trying to slay the "green-eyed monster."

I have been hesistant to show you my whole garden, because I've wondered: Does a really, tiny plot of raised beds count as a garden?

The answer, of course, is YES! To us, spending time in our teenie, tiny garden has felt heavenly. I love to see what's growing, what has flowers on it, what will someday (hopefully) become a delicious part of some salsa or spaghetti sauce or zucchini bread or salad or strawberry pie. You see where my heart is people? It's all about the food!

I suspect that a lot of familes don't garden because they think that they don't have enough space. That's where I come in...the "Farmer in the 'Hood," here to prove that yes, you can have a garden smack dab in the middle of suburbia. As evidence, I present to you Exhibit A: The Farmstead, An Aerial View

Kind of smallish, right? But guess what? We stuffed it with nine tomato plants, seven pepper plants, three strawberry plants, three sweet potato plants, two zuchinni plants, a honeydew plant, a cantalope plant (my husband's idea...they're already getting so big that they'll be flowing out of the bed and into the middle of the yard by next week), beans (we planted 50 bean seeds. Fifty! And they all came up. I had to wipe away a tear as we said farewell and tore out more than half of them this week), carrots, onions, parsely, oregano, basil, and broccoli. All of that, stuffed into that teenie, tiny garden.

We live on a 1/3 acre lot. We have a homeowners association. We have neighbors who probably shake their heads and laugh at the crazy family that measures their tomato plants every night. That's okay, though. Because we're "Farmers in the 'Hood" (stay tuned for a facebook fan page, coming soon). Ha!

In real gardening news, we had to stake up the tomatos again. You all were laughing at me last week, weren't you? We seriously thought those 18" stakes would last all summer, but one week later, we have moved on to the big green monster stakes. Tell me that my tomato plants will not get any bigger than these stakes? If they do, I may not be able to see out my window in a few weeks!

Mostly, I am having a hard time keeping my girls involved in the garden. We watered, and we measured things, and we picked a few strawberries, and we thinned the beans. I think that the excitement of creating the garden and watching the seeds pop up is over and the excitement of picking the veggies hasn't arrived. We're kind of stuck in-between, and I could use some suggestions on how to keep my girls interested (books? craft projects? science experiments?). All ideas are welcome!

But we did have a few garden fairies visit this week, and that was fun. You just never know what will happen when you're farmin' in the 'hood!

Hop on over to The Inadvertent Farmer's KinderGarden post this week (and feel free to ogle the amazing gardens)!

The Princess and the Pea (and the tomatos, peppers, carrots....)

This week (on the farmstead), my girly girls have decided that fashion and farming can go together. They have taught me that one should not feel obligated to wear denimn, flannel, and plain old cotton while working the fields. On this farmstead, there are pink leotards, flowing nightgowns, flowered hairbows, and shoes that sparkle in the sunlight.

Notice that my girl has two left feet?

That pretty much sums up how I feel about my gardening knowledge. When it comes to growing things, I have "two left feet." The other day, my parents visited, and I proudly took them on a tour of the farmstead. My dad immediately asked why I didn't "mount" my potatoes.

I smiled and said, "Dad, I am most definitely not the kind of girl to mount her potatoes," to which he shook his head and replied, "Mound...I said mound your potatoes!" Ha! Who knew you had to mound your potatoes? Obviously not this "farmer."

But we did get our tomatoes tied up... (is it tomato or tomatoe?)

And my Kater decided to work her magic in the garden by kissing her hand and rubbing some "love" on each plant. And so, while I did not "mount" my potatoes, Kate has spread a little love around!

In more important farming news, we had our first harvest this week...five, perfectly red strawberries (which were even more delicious than the ones we picked on the real farmstead two weeks ago), our broccoli seeds have sprouted, we have a few bean plants coming up, and thanks to the Farrmer Mom's post last week, I now know the difference between onion and carrot sprouts! I may be a gardening expert before the end of the summer!

On a sour note...I am a little upset that (despite my menacing looks, loud clapping, and crazy bird chasing), the Robins are still eating my sunflower plants. My husband just found some netting, which I'm hoping will save the last six plants. If not, I may just move my bed out there and stand watch all night until the little plantlings can fend for themselves!

I know I sound sarcastic, but I am truly excited about this gardening experiment! I love it! If you don't have a garden, it's not too late. Seriously, just get yourself a little pot, plop a tomato or pepper plant in there, give it a little love (no mounting necessary), water frequently, and call yourself a farmer. You'll feel so proud and your kids will LOVE it!
And at the end of the summer, we can all dress in our finest farming attire and take a bow!

Don't forget to check out all the fun gardening posts this week on the Inadvertent Farmer's KinderGarden post!

It's Official...

We're farmers. At least, according to Kate, we're definitely farmers. I suspect that our new 200 square foot (I'm guessing here, because I really have no idea how big it is) garden will not give us any farmstead tax breaks. And I'm a little concerned that my girl may one day marry a farmer, expecting an easier, simplier, raised-garden kind of lifestyle. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

For now, we're farmers in charge of a brand-spankin'-new, designed-and-built-by-Steve original, raised garden. I can't stop looking out my morning room window, just to get a peek at my tiny tomato plantlings, the graceful strawberry runners, and the carrots? onions? weeds? sprouting up in a row (I'm not exactly sure what those things are, because I handed the seed packets to the girls and said, "put them in a row, ladies."). Our haphazard planting should make harvest time a little more interesting and I, for one, am looking forward to it.

This gardening thing is such fun. After last year's infamous "overstuffed pot" debaucle, I am excited to have space to plant. But, I guess it is true that no matter how much space you have, you will fill it (or in my case, "overstuff" it). Ha! Let the overstuffing begin....


I'm linking up to the Inadvertent Farmer's KinderGARDENS weekly post. I'm late, as usual. Did you expect otherwise? I think they are five weeks into the gardening posts, while this "farmstead" just got rolling. You know me...curling my hair, changing my clothes (or in this case, nagging my husband to build the garden). But better late than never, right? Check it out...there's tons of great gardening ideas for kids, including a bean teepee, sunflower houses, and so much more.

Edited to add: Kate just asked me when we were going to build a barn for our horse and cows. Let me be clear here...we do not have a horse and cows. I suspect that the gardening thing has led her to believe that we really are farmers. Oh my. I'd love to see the Homeowner's Association reviewing that proposal! We'd be the talk of the neighborhood for sure!