It's Garden Time

We've found that a small garden in the back yard is vital to good summer cooking. I grew up with a father who was a psychologist, but who really wanted to be a farmer. We gardened endlessly; I admit that I didn't love it.

Bob, on the other hand, grew up in suburban LA. Gardening is new and somewhat exciting to him. And I confess that I have discovered it's in my blood. We have a back corner dedicated to tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, herbs and other adventurous vegetables. We celebrate the ripening of the first summer tomato. We already have great plans for roasting our own (hopefully abundant) red peppers.

Last week our neighbor, Lou, invited our kids to share part of his garden. Lou's gardening skills are legendary. He has a huge plot which is virtually weedless and is remarkably productive. He set aside a row for our girls. When we arrived to Tuesday afternoon to plant under his supervision, he even had it customized for us:

He brought out all kinds of seeds for the kids to choose from. They planted a little bit of everything, including items never allowed for in our garden. The girls were excited about planting a couple of kinds of squash, corn, pumpkins, gourds, and radishes. I don't think they even like radishes, but they were excited about the prospect of watching them grow. They also planted some cucumber seeds and will go back next week to plant some tiny tomatoes.

We're glad they can have the wonder and amazement of their own garden. We look forward to trying new things with the fruits of their labors. We're glad they can learn to raise food from an expert. We'll be learning right along side them.