When we bought this place last Spring, we were working day and night to renovate the kids’ bedrooms, the mudroom, finish out the totally unfinished basement, and make a library out of a really lackluster room at the end of our long ranch house. We longed for the day we could really use the garden plots that were already here and had been used for many years by the previous owners.

Well, Spring has sprung and the gardens are planted!

We have been putting dead leaves on the gardens and tilling them multiple times. Thankfully, our 15-year-old son Curly loves to drive the tractor.

I had thought a lot about how to involve the children more with the garden. It can be exciting, but honestly, it can become just another chore too. The payoff is definitely not instant and a lot of patience is required.

While at the home improvement store where we purchased some of our plants, I told the Prez of my idea: divide one of our three “smaller” gardens into six equal sections. While the Prez was mildly impressed, the older couple behind us in line gave me their 100% approval. They marveled at our children’s good behavior and encouraged me as a wise Momma. Not so sure about that, but it was nice to get their approval nonetheless!

Upper Garden: 78 feet x 20 feet (Planted 4/23/14)

Here’s a list of what each child, in order from oldest to youngest, planted:

Curly, age 15: 4 rows cucumbers for pickling plus parsley, dill, oregano, and sage from seed.

Larry, age 14: 2 rows red potatoes, 4 watermelon plants, 4 jalepeño pepper plants

Mo, age 11: 4 cantaloupe plants, 6 strawberry plants, carrots and cilantro from seeds

Li’l Bro, age 8: 6 rows of blue lake green beans and 4 rows sunflowers from seeds
Li’l Miss, age 8: 2 watermelon plants, 1 leek plant, carrots and flowers from seeds
Li’l Bit, age 4: 1 bean seed 😉 (that was all she wanted to plant) and flowers from seed
The kids bought into it hook, line and sinker as they say. They will get a great lesson in getting out of something what they put into it! They even worked together to divide the garden into six sections. We of course put them in order from oldest to youngest.

One warm morning we worked hard to plant our respective garden plots. I was actually just helping in the morning. Later that evening, the Prez and I planted some more plants and seeds in the lower two garden plots.

Here are the stats for the middle and lower garden plots.

Middle Garden: 43 feet x 12 feet (Planted 4/26/14)

2 rows of yellow squash from seeds
2 rows of okra from seeds
5 strawberry plants
1 cherry tomato plant
2 red bell pepper plants
2 snack-size yellow pepper plants
2 green bell pepper plant
4 rows muskmelon from seeds

Lower Garden: 37 feet x 16 feet (Planted 4/26/14)

2 rows of green onion plants
9 sweet potato plants
16 tomato plants

In addition to these three large garden plots in our backyard, we have an even larger plot up on the hill behind the barn. A couple of weeks ago the Prez and some of our children planted 5 rows of corn up there. The Prez says it is coming up, but I can’t see it. Here he is showing some of our helpers the sprouts.

I wish I knew the size of this garden, but suffice it to say it is VERY large. Now we have 10 1/2 rows of corn planted 5 feet apart, so we can till in-between the rows. We planted it in two sections a couple of weeks apart, so hopefully it doesn’t all come in on the same day! If it does and you know us in real life, come on over and pick you some!

Yesterday five of our six children and I planted the second half of it. One of them refused to help, but that is another post for another day. If anyone reading thinks the Prez and I have this parenting adventure figured out, please think it no more. We struggle with it every single day, especially with some of the stronger-willed sons.

This week Li’l Bro discovered his bean seeds had sprouted! We had a 5-inch rain in half a day last week and we feared the worst for some of the seeds.

One of my favorite memories from my childhood is visiting my grandparents’ homes and spending time in their gardens with them. My Granddaddy had a mule he used to work the soil in his garden. And no one could fry up yummier okra than his wife, my Granny. They were my Mom’s parents.

My Grandmother., my Dad’s Mother, I remember she spent hours in her garden each summer. And no one could cook fresh corn better than her. I don’t know what she did special. Nothing it seemed, but it was so good. She and my Granny both pickled so much. I remember snapping green beans in the yard with my Grandmother and snapping green beans with my Granny in her tiny little kitchen.

I hope to make memories in the garden with our children and grandchildren one day too! I also hope God provides exceedingly abundant for our family with food from the land.