Don't Take Punxsutawney Phil Too Seriously

Up here in North Florida, we have been blessed with a mild Winter and an early Spring. This is a wonderful departure from the extreme cold we experienced last year. We were bracing ourselves because good 'ole Punxsutawney Phil advised us that there would be 6 more weeks of Winter. Boy was he wrong! Not that we closely follow the predictions of a ground hog, but it's fun for the kids! We have had a ton of rain lately, but the temperatures have been mild and you really can't complain with that! 

Sophie spacing out the tomato plants

It finally cleared up this afternoon and we decided to clean out our garden beds and put some tomatoes into the ground. I pulled our spinach because something crazy was eating the heck out of it and tomorrow I hope to pull up the broccoli. I am pleased that the mild Winter kept our eggplant alive through the season and I am hoping that it will produce again for us this year. The cucumbers and zucchini didn't work out so well for us last year, but our sweet potatoes did awesome. I'd also like to try planting some sweet peppers. Our last pepper plant only managed to produce one green bell and I think it will be worth it to plant them again!

Digging up earthworms

Of course the kids love to dig in the dirt. I have been trying my best to be less controlling about garden stuff. These experiences are supposed to be fun for the kids and the last thing I want to do is to make gardening a negative thing for them. I think I was too controlling last year because I was just a beginner myself and I really wanted everything to be perfect and successful. Well now that I sort of know what I am doing and have had some success and failure, I think it is important for the kids to experience the joy and reap the benefits of eating food that they grow. For the things that I think need to be controlled, I can control while teaching them why things need to be that way. For instance why certain plants need to be planted in sunny areas or why we need to properly space plants away from each other. The kids were more receptive to learning this way and I felt better about teaching them in a more effective way.

Past failures in gardening has taught me to value patience. Just like our own children, we need to be patient and teach them properly. Sometimes we try our hardest only to have failed, but the most important part is getting back up and trying again. I am looking forward to learning more about gardening and teaching the kids about it too!

Thank goodness that groundhog was wrong about 6 more weeks of Winter. Now I get more time to garden!

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the soul."
-Luther Burbank-