The Little Seedlings That Could

As some of you might remember, this past January David the Husband and I decided to give gardening a go- again. We had a lovely, lush garden when we first moved here, that is until the temperatures climbed above 100 by 8am, making the Lauren’s-going-to-have-another-breakdown seismograph start throwing the ink around. I don’t like the heat. Yes, I know I live in the desert. It’s just one of life’s little ironies.

Well, if you were keeping up with things in January, you know that just after hauling multiple wheelbarrows of compost, tilling approximately 600 square feet of garden, and heading to the big orange home improvement box store for seedlings, which we duly planted, we here in the Valley of the Sun experienced the worst frost since 1990. Add to that the wee wascally wabbits and busy bothersome birds which destroyed anything left post-frost and we had beautifully tilled beds of nothingness.

Life being what it has been for us lately, I actually didn’t fret our failure. There are more important toddlers to raise if you know what I mean. In the meantime, the winter rains came and left, the soap opera that is “The Days of Our Pretend Farm” continued, and I didn’t cast even one askance glance toward the lost potential of a garden.

That is until last week, when lo and behold, I happened to look over and double take taken, saw broccoli growing, then cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Can you believe it? These wonders of nature had been completely destroyed above ground level and they went and played “Little Engine That Could” on me. Granted, they don’t look like anything that would grace the pages of “Martha Stewart Living” but they are growing, darn it. I am so proud of them; I feel so crunchy earth mother right now.

My inner gardener reawakened, the Pint and I decided to do something about the beds whose seedlings lacked the work ethic of the others. I just happened to have a bag of sprouting potatoes in the pantry (sometimes my lack of good housekeeping skills comes in handy) so we cut their eyes apart and planted the pieces in two separate beds. Then we went through the stockpile of seed packets and found a few that we thought would work with the current soil temperatures, bush beans, sweet dumpling squash and sunflowers. Although the Pint needs to learn a few gardening lessons, like not stepping on the seed beds after he has been told a million and one times, we had great fun being farmers together and we look forward to keeping up keeping up.

By the way, the biggest thrill of the morning was setting up the sprinkler. If Anthony’s squeals were any indication, I have a feeling we’ll be using it for a little more than plant irrigation this summer. Sometimes it’s the little so-cheap-it-was-practically-free things that make all the difference, mixed well with Gramma and Pint bonding time, of course.

Comments

[Karalyn]

Never underestimate the power of a plant. I saw it several times in Colorado -- not the most garden friendly place --- or at least it had a very short season compared to Michigan and that was if the hail didn't get to things before the frost did! This is a very nice picture. I'm assuming "Pint" is the wee grandson. What a cutie. The how-to's of gardening is a wonderful gift to give our children --- something they can carry with them forever.

[Michelle]

Hurray! I need to start some seeds in Jiffy pots; I've got the seeds and pots, I just get nervous about the timing. Two years ago I ended up with tall, spindly seedlings that needed to go out weeks before the temperatures cooperated; last year was a bit better.

And kudos for being such a good "mom." (I MEAN that!) I need lessons in patience to enlist my little guy's help in all those tasks around the "farm" and home while creating bonds of love and a good work ethic.