One year ago, in early April 2020, a few days before Winnie was born and we were still at the old cabin, the pandemic had just started and we were all looking for more projects at home. I ordered a couple gardening kits for the kids and it turned out to be really fun. We chose one box of “exotic vegetables” that included lemon cucumbers and purple carrots, and one box with herbs. Despite being a vegetarian cookbook author having written a kids cookbook, I find it hard to get my own kids to eat vegetables! But I have learned they are always more apt to try a vegetable they have grown themselves.
The kits came with all the things you need to start seeds in little biodegradable pots inside your house. They even came with soil pellets that turn to dirt when mixed with water. The boys thought this was a fun, messy thing to do with their hands.
Then we brought the little pots inside and planted the seeds. The kit even came with a spray bottle to water them.
I put them in casserole dishes in the window. I love Ezra’s kindergarten handwriting on the labels :)
Once they sprouted a couple weeks later (late April/early May) and the days got a little warmer, we transplanted the seedlings into pots on the deck, the sunniest spot in our woodsy yard. We have learned from experience that we don’t have quite enough sun for tomatoes but herbs, carrots and cucumbers do well. I usually buy seedlings and had never started from seed.
It was fun to be able to see them through the window from our living room (and also a good reminder to water them!). We did'n’t really have space for a larger garden bed, and we knew we might be moving, so pots seemed easy. We just used some we had. The downside is that the pots probably kept the plants from getting as big as they could have in a deeper bed.
Although I grew up with parents who are great gardeners, and we always had a huge vegetable garden, as an adult I have not always lived in a place where that was easy to do. So I am still learning!
Jon gave me a felt pocket hanging planter for my birthday and we filled it up as well, with nasturtiums (edible flowers), succulents, and herbs. In the past year, the succulents have done the best in this, as the herbs needed to be watered frequently since the pockets are small. Pretty though!
By July our pumpkins (started from seed) were trailing several feet. The blossoms alone brought me so much joy to see on warm mornings! Some of the blossoms have mini pumpkins growing and some don’t. The ones that don’t can be picked and eaten. We like them on pizzas or stuffed with goat cheese and fried.
By October our little pumpkin plant in a pot gave us exactly 2 pumpkins, one for Ezra and one for Max (phew!).
Now it’s April again, and we are still in a pandemic, but things are improving. Jon and I have gotten our vaccines, as have our parents which feels like a huge relief and reduces my daily anxiety. The kids are in school half day in-person and we just celebrated Winnie’s first birthday! And now we are gearing up for a (slightly) bigger garden this year.
Our new house is still in the woods with lots of shade from redwood trees, but our sunniest spot is in the driveway. So this week that’s where we built a small planter box. Ezra’s public school has an amazing gardening program and sent the kids home with an egg carton filled with seeds to plant, and also a large fabric bag full of dirt. We started our seeds last week and we are going to plant them soon, along with some store-bought seedlings to get us going.
Ezra’s gardening teacher taught him to draw lines on his fingers to determine the depth for small, medium and large seeds. He pokes his finger into the dirt to make spots for each seed. We started herbs in this little pot.
.Here is our one little gardening bed, and our little one-year-old. We are looking forward to filling it up this week and will keep you updated! Fingers crossed the deer don’t find us too soon :)
As we are newly vaccinated, and more of our friends and family are too, I feel hopeful that when these little seeds grow into tall crop-bearing plants by late summer, there will be more health and optimism in the world.
Happy gardening!
xx
Erin
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