In the Garden With My Loves...

The garden calls to me in the morning.  I hurry to finish the necessary tasks, the must be dones, so I can head outside.  Some of the special beauties growing there, they wait for no one.  If you don't get up early enough you don't get to see them raising their petals to the sky.

squash flowers at sunrise

 morning glories singing their praises...reaching for the sky...see that one tendril reaching up past the gate  a few feet?

 Some flowers do wait, patiently even.  This one grew in a very unlikely place and gave me quite an interesting perspective when I stooped down to his level.  Funny how a flower can make even an old rusty fence an object of beauty.

 the chicken coop peeking through the morning glories

 Today the first tomato was spied!  He's hiding behind a leaf, blushing red with sweet ripeness.

 This year we were adventurous and planted spaghetti squash.  This one is quite large and the boys check on it every day.  I'm not sure what they are expecting it to do or be but they think it is amazing that it grew from the small seed they put into the ground last May.

 Hen in the early morning sunshine. 

The best thing about the garden?  Even better than all the delicious things it gives us, is how it brings my boys together.  When I am weeding or watering a boy is certain to be nearby asking questions, looking for bugs and telling me the things on his heart.  They are becoming quite knowledgeable about growing things, but more importantly they are learning patience and trust and how to tell me their little hopes and worries.

Today we picked cucumber beetles off the squash vines.  Sounds like a "not so fun" job, but it was actually a good time!  A boy would spy one and I would come and scoop it up and drop it into a jar of soapy water.  It became a game of hunting and we soon had a jar full of them.  The boys were especially interested in why the cucumber beetles float and other beetles do not.  I think I sense a bug anatomy lesson in our very near future. (isn't homeschooling great?)

 Cricket with the jar of bugs.

We harvested more than bugs today. :)  Lettuce and green beans and cucumbers.  Basil and tomatoes.  Eggplants.  The peppers are almost ready and the new potatoes too.  

It must be a gift to grow things.  The way my soul feels about it.  Growing food.  Flowers.  Boys.  For me, it just doesn't get much better than that.