Pumpkins, tomatoes, and corn...oh my!

I have a yellow thumb. This means that I tend to kill about half of what I attempt to grow. Consequently, I buy a lot of $5 plants at Home Depot. We live out in the boonies and I have several garden areas, but I tend to get lazy as summer wears on and forget to water them, so only the drought-tolerant survive. A few weeks ago I hit the jackpot at Walmart--shrubs for $2.75. I can kill twice as many for almost half the cost, I guess.

A few years back, I really wanted to make a pumpkin patch and sunflower maze for my kids. My husband cleared about an 8 x 10 section of land for the pumpkins, and I spent an afternoon on my hands and(bad) knees next to it digging a hundred holes, and adding sunflower seeds and water. We ordered a bunch of topsoil and seeds and I imagined dewy summer mornings, watering and weeding and teaching my kids to be one with the earth.

The problem was, this garden area was way too far away from the house and the hoses--by about 75 yards. My kids were too little and my husband worked too many hours and I just didn't get over to that side of the driveway often enough. The birds (I think) got to the sunflowers--not one came up. The pumpkin patch was a dud, too. But we did end up with two small pumpkins I proudly displayed on the porch for Halloween. Needless to day, we dug up the topsoil and moved it away and never ventured over there again.

Last year my kids begged for a vegetable garden, and we meant to get to it but just never did. We promised we'd for sure do it this year, so as soon as they saw the seed display in Target they started making their plans. This time we're older and wiser--we dug the garden much closer to the house, making it easier to water and weed. And we even fenced it in to protect it from the critters. The kids took charge, mapping out where each fruit and vegetable would go. They even made their own little pumpkin patches right next door, all on their own.

So far so good. They water every morning, even before school. When they got home today, they ran right over to check, and sure enough, there are new sprouts that weren't there this morning. We see the corn, cucumbers, beans, and zucchini popping through. And even better, the pumpkins and watermelons they planted in their own individual patches are coming up, too. They can't wait for the day that most of our dinner comes from our own yard.

I love to watch their excitement for these little miracles that grow right in front of their eyes. Now maybe they'll understand a little of how I feel watching them.