Garden

Even before summer began I knew I wanted to do a garden. I wanted my children to have the experience of being outside and helping things to grow and then eating those healthy things.
I also knew that I couldn't provide that for them.
I have tried to do a garden almost every year out here in Minneapolis and between squirrels, "helpful" young neighbor children, a shady, shady yard and sheer laziness, we have always failed miserably. But this year I found the secret to success: Parasitical gardening! we have hitched our wagon to a friend's gardening star. We offered to go in half and join them in their successful garden plot.

Of course, we're not as much help as the work we make, but we are loving it and our friends are the amazingly patient type, which is probably one of the reasons their garden grows so well.

Here are Emma and Willa at the entrance to the community garden.

Calvin hides among the bushes.

Taran and Calvin "helping"--eating the strawberries--in the garden.
Note: Calvin is sporting his summer/lice haircut. Compare it to the hair they had in the Lilydale post. That's a lot of hair gone.

More strawberry picking while our friend weeds and I take pictures. Don't you want us to come and help you too?

Willa and Amanda search for the last strawberries a couple of weeks later.
The blue cups surround the pepper plants and protect them from cutworms. Experienced gardeners know these things. They also over plant so they can loose a few plants.
I'm learning so much.

More hard work:
Dave helps to get Enoch higher so they can pick the mulberries off of the bush that grows wild by the gardens.

Success! We are so thankful for our friends Dave & Amanda. Their knowledge, patience, and kindness is overwhelming. We are having so much fun.


Update:

 

Flowers!