On Saturday, E came over to plant her first garden! In preparation, she chose and bought 5 packets of seeds and brought them over. She will be growing lettuce, peas, cucumbers, orange carrots and a fancy purple striped carrot. Friend, J, came over and helped us haul the potting soil. Here we are making our way to the greenhouse.

It was a cold morning so we were grateful to be working in the greenhouse. I had set aside the back bed for E’s garden and had found a stack of old plastic pots that were left behind by the previous owner of the cabin. We decided to grow her vegetables in pots so that I can move them outside once the weather is warmer (the location of the greenhouse is in partial shade), and also so that (if she chooses) she could put a whole pot in her wagon and wheel it home to harvest the fruits of her labor with her family’s participation.

E began by arranging the pots then filling each with a mixture of potting soil and compost. She planted a different vegetable in each pot, taking care to read the directions for spacing and depth.

Then she watered each pot and made labels out of plastic garden markers. E read how long each will take to germinate and we figure that by the time she returns in two weeks that she’ll have baby plants sprouting in each pot! In the meantime, I will keep the pots moist and warm. Later, we’ll build a mini trellis for the peas and the cucumber to climb up and I will scrounge around for a few more pots so that she can plant potatoes next time! Once school is out, E can visit her garden as often as she likes to garden and weed and, the most exciting part…. to harvest!