Arriving home after a long trip, there is lots to do in the garden. Luckily I have my two granddaughters, Charlotte and Olivia, to help me out. The first thing we do is to harvest the snap peas and beans. Juana tried to keep up with the harvest, but there were too many plants growing too quickly.
Charlotte is deft in balancing on the raised beds to grab each and every pea pod. Her sister is more content to eat them rather than place them in a basket. Next is the garlic. Charlotte loves to harvest it feeling the gentle tear as the bulb separates from the soil that is holding it so tightly. She keeps track of how many bulbs she has pulled and lays them out on a rack in my greenhouse.
I then remove all the straw from the beds and Charlotte is amazed at all the worms in residence. Shrieks of laughter and ickiness emerge as she and Olivia exam these long, cool and slimy invertebrates.
Olivia is playing with some weeds while Juana collects wheat seed heads that have found their way into the garden.
Such good work deserves a treat, and while I am weeding the lettuce beds, I pull a few carrots for the three of them to enjoy. It’s early in the season, but they chop down on them with hungry pleasure.
We then go to the lower vegetable garden where they watch me weed. Juana clips a few yellow peppers that we will have for lunch. Charlotte helps me pull off the floating row cover that is protecting the squash and cucumber plants. But not before she spots a pair of grasshoppers sitting on it naming them ‘grassy’ and ‘hopper’.
These plants have exploded in size and so have the weeds around them. They have yet to flower so after weeding, Charlotte and I replace the row cover. Everyone is hungry, so Juana heads in to make tuna-fish salad for lunch.
Sated, it is nap time but once we all arise will be time to harvest some blueberries. The day is windy, and the sky is clear. A perfect summer afternoon to spend with my granddaughters.
