On a dreary winter day, a group of girls sat on comfortable couches with coffees in hand and poured through seed catalogs, dreaming of a great, big vegetable garden. It didn't matter that none of them had any real experience gardening. As little children played underfoot, the adults chose seeds of every kind and looked forward to summer days of eating fruits and vegetables picked from the back garden.
If you've been wondering where I've been spending my summer days, this project is part of the answer. I've always dreamed of having a large garden but moving around as much as I have hasn't made it possible. A few indoor plants does not a garden make.
I've puttered around in my mother's garden for many summers but this year an opportunity arose to make my dream a reality in the form of a community garden on my sister's farm. And what an adventure its been. There's been sweat, tears and lots of laughter. Three new babies were welcomed into the world over the summer months with baby boy one born on the first day of planting.
We've learned a lot along the way. Mostly the hard way. But it's been so much fun and I wanted to share some pictures from our summer in the garden. This first part shows the seedlings in the greenhouse and the making of the garden plot. Enjoy!
Did you know that seeds are sometimes attached to the plants as they emerge from the soil? I didn't.
The garden at the beginning of the day
So we cheated...or something. Do other people farm like this? We used the four-wheeler to mark the rows.