Gardening project ... on a small scale

"Mama, did you know that watermelons grow on bushes?"

What?  "No, they don't, dear."  I'm going to have to teach them about plants.  I can't believe that MY children are growing up not knowing how plants grow and what different plants look like.

I love gardening!  From as early as I can remember, I've had a fascination with gardens.  I love the whole process ... from preparing the soil, to picking the seeds to grow, to planting them.  Watching the new little green sprigs pop out of the ground and then grow each day.  

And then there's the harvest.  Going out in the morning and picking fresh zucchini or sugar snap peas.  Oh!  What a treat -- a luxury, really.

Gardening has always been a part of my life.  The earliest I can remember was my Grandma Carolyn, growing plants in a small community garden near her apartment.  We had a big meyer lemon tree and fig tree  in our backyard in CA.  When we moved to our 36 acres in Saranac, NY, Daddy took gardening to a whole new level.  To show how serious we were, he even had a special seed planter that we rolled down the long rows planting corn, beans, peas.  We planted all sorts of squash, broccoli, tomatoes ... anything we could think of that sounded good.

When Dwight and I started our home together in Redmond, OR, we planted a wonderful garden each year.  Apparently, Redmond is sort of a banana belt of Central Oregon and plants grow quite well there.  By the time we moved, we had built a deer fence all around it and had even installed automatic sprinklers.  We gleaned a delightful harvest each day of the late summer.  Oh, what a joy!  Waking up each morning, Dwight and I would head out, pick a few weeds, harvest a handful of produce.

But, when we moved to Tumalo, our first gardening attempts were thwarted as the cold nights throughout the high desert summer stunted our plants' growth.  I had even ordered and started some heirloom plants.  But, what survived and tried to grow during the day would then be killed in a random frost at night at any point in the season.  My tomatoes were hailed on the day I put them out.  I couldn't even grow zucchini!  Grrrr! 

We bought a greenhouse the next year and again started our hopeful journey toward a plentiful table come fall.  But, a random wind storm sent the plexiglass panels of our bolted-together greenhouse off into the pond, and other places and the frame got smashed.

Alas, Dwight decided that it was not worth the effort.  Buying made more sense.

But, along with GMO, and the price of organic foods, and my children's ignorance on gardening all-together, I believe that it is time to attempt this wonderful art again.

Step 1:  Make 2 raised beds and fill with good soil

Thanks Grandpa Burnell for the help!

Step 2:  Plant seeds

Step 3:  Water and wait

Step 4:  Catch a bird, eat ice-cream, play Duck-duck goose, wash up

Step 5:  One month later ...

Our plants are growing!