children in the garden

Peas:

Last week I mentioned hedging my bets by starting a few seeds indoors. Once I consulted the seed packet I decided to direct-sow. I soaked half the seeds in water for 48 hours, then planted them directly outdoors. I saved the rest of the seed packet to replenish the inevitable casualties.

Looking left and right for squirrels, I surreptitiously pushed several seeds into the soil around the arbor. I planted the rest amongst the still-flowering annuals. With luck, they’ll all come up and produce lovely green vines along both sides of the sidewalk.

Carrots:

I have a lot of faith in the success of the carrots, since we planted starts instead of seeds. I say ‘we’ because this year I had help from several of Jazzy’s day care children next door. The older kids planted two each; I filled in later with the rest. Planting was fun, but the real hit: watering cans. I never met a youngster that didn’t like water.

Watering

I think they’ll get a kick out of watching the carrots grow. I’ve added a carrot countdown in the sidebar to the right so we have a general idea of harvest day. Hopefully each young gardener grows at least one or two carrots to take home.

Stay tuned!

Little hands planting carrots

Flip, tap, squeeze and release

Sweet-faced Pansy

To garden is to fail. It’s not a bad thing. You learn to flex your patience, optimism, and determination.

So it goes this week with bulbs.

This is my new gardening creed:

P – Patience
O – Optimism
D – Determination

Patience

Planting bulbs requires patience, not because they are difficult, but because you wait so long to see the results. It’s worth it. You can forget they’re there after a long, cold winter. Then spring rolls around and you see magic everywhere. Shiny green growth pushes up the soil, with a spectacular show of color to follow. It’s like a surprise party throughout the garden.

Optimism

Last month I planted a dozen pansies, interspersed with snowdrops bulbs. I liked the idea of companion planting. We would enjoy these sweet flowers now, and the stunning white flowers in the spring. With luck, I might even have a bit of crossover. Pretty exciting, right?

I added a rough-textured mulch to some of the plants. I used what I had, left over from another project, but didn’t have enough to cover them all The squirrels moved in. They dug up the bulbs, and either ate them or moved them to a secret spot.

Determination

Determined squirrels go after what they want. I needed to match that determination, and raise it a notch. So, back to the garden center for another bag of mulch, more bulbs and a positive attitude. I doubled down, too, buying 30 bulbs this time around, instead of the 10 or so I started with. All the snow drops sold out, so instead I bought a bag of crocus mix. I’ve had good luck with them in the past, which is to say, the squirrels don’t like them or can’t find them. I’m hedging my bets, too, planting them in a variety of undisclosed spots. If you run into a squirrel, mum’s the word.