Plotting and Planning

Our lesson of the week is to think big...but plan ahead. I think I mentioned we are planting our first garden this year. Apparently, in the Northeast where we are, the rocks are the most abundant things in the soil. Our first step for our garden and baby orchard was to order the trees and plants. Okay, it's been 6 weeks and they still haven't arrived. Next year we'll order them earlier(as we were told). Lesson One. Check.

Next, we had someone plow the area that we marked off. Since we are out of town during the week, we expected to come home and see an area set for some topsoil and planting. Oops. This stage just turns over the sod. Now comes the rock picking and rototilling. I finally understand why there are these gorgeous rock walls separating the property lines. With so many rocks, where could you possibly put them all? So begins another project. A fire pit.

After spending the weekend picking rocks and rototilling, we will be ready to plant this weekend. That is, of course, if my plants arrive. If not, then we'll be running to the nursery to buy some other things.

The kids have helped with as much as possible. We have started some seedlings and are keeping note of their progress. My son is documenting our successes and failures and comparing cost of seeds, plants, and equipment needed. He's starting to realize the cost of fruits and veggies in the store and how much we should expect to save. The real success is running outside and picking a snack right from the yard. I love our optimism. Weekend Garden Warriors. That's what we are.

My daughter is preschool age so she gets involved in the planting, identifying what we are growing, making markers for the different items we plant, etc. I bought a bundle of shims and wrote the different fruits and veg's on them. She painted and colored the sticks to use as plant markers. Now we won't forget where things are planted and our garden will have some pizzazz. "Pizzazz" is her favorite word at the moment.

So, wish us happy gardening, as I realize the hard work is just beginning. We'll post pics as soon as we actually have something growing other than the rocks!