Walking Therein

Summer Homeschool: Gardening, A Photo Journal Essay

 

I knew last winter that this year would be hard on the gardening, since I was expecting LucyLillie. I knew with an April due date, the garden would not get planted when it should, and tending to it would be hard with a newborn. We waited for the ground to be dry enough to till. Matt tried in March, and it was just too wet, so he and the girls got it done in April.

It was tilled 2-3 times before we could get out there to plant.  I used the hoe to furrow the rows. I found it was the best tool to do that.

It sure did look nice with the clean dirt and no weeds.  Dad gave me those silver metal stakes to put the names of the vegetables in each row. I just taped the seed packet onto each stake so we knew what was in each row. If you look closely, at the bottom left of the picture,  you can see the string down the row that we used to make the rows straight.

Learning about the tilled earth and the cycle of the seed is a lesson that every child should experience.  There are so many Bible and Creation lessons that can be learned just by knowing the law of sowing and reaping or how a seed reproduces after its own kind. There's the fact that we must till the earth and water it.

The ground is hard, even after tilling sometimes and must be tended to with your hands. When we plant tomatoes, we dig deep down into the dirt. Then we break off the bottom stems and plant the seedling deep so it will grow strong roots. 

It feels good to get your hands into the freshly-tilled soil and plant something. You are planting something that you know will grow and produce fruit one day. Some of the best lessons and quiet times have been spent in my garden.

One thing I did was to make sure that the rows were farther apart then the width of our tiller. This made it easy to till the weeds in-between each row. It worked out rather well, and even worked when the weeds got tall!

And you must water it. Plants must have plenty of water to ensure they will grow well and flourish. We have to water each seedling after we initially put it into the ground so that the soil falls around its roots. 

We make furrows in the rows and water each row individually. This ensures that each row is getting the water and the weeds aren't.

And, soon you will see the fruits, like these lovely little shoots of new lettuce.

And bean shoots, coming up like a little army.

And spinach

 


And then, you must still keep the weeds out. It takes a lot of work, but as with any job well done, it is well worth it!  Here, Eric is digging so we can plant our seed potatoes. By the time he is finished, he will have dug a ditch 1 foot deep and piled the dirt on either side of it. Then we planted our cut-up potatoes with eyes on each piece and covered them with 5-6" of dirt. As they grew, we covered the green of the plant with dirt, until there was a mound of dirt. After the plants died off, we knew they were ready to dig up!

You must work and weed and hoe, so that the peppers keep growing. If we could keep the garden nice and brown, with the dirt like this and no weeds, that would be great. It does take a lot of work for that, though

And the tomatoes need to be weeded around too (though they seem to grow just about anywhere).
Tomato plants get so big that they need a support going up or they will literally take over the area!

Here is the broccoli. Isn't it beautiful? It will grow and grow, and you just have to cut off some of the stalk and take it in and wash it, and it is ready to cook and eat! Fresh out of the garden!

When you weed yet again... shake the dirt off the weeds before you toss them! And, for heaven's sake, don't forget your gloves!

And remember to take time to notice the sunflowers,

and the flowers on the okra plants, which are so pretty, it is worth growing the okra, just to see the beautiful flowers!

 

And, when you are out weeding with Daddy, you also have to have a little fun sharing your chocolate chip cookies and your toad...

and watching little creatures, like your toad, when it jumps out of your hands! Toads are fun to watch.

 

In between cookie batches, keep an eye on your veggies as they grow. And, keep those weeds under control, Rachel!!! Ack!!









As you are tending to your garden, take time to sketch the herbs you have planted. This is a wonderful project for the whole family. Even those who do not like to draw will participate if it is something you have all worked on together.

I had 2 children who weren't thrilled to draw, but did it when we all did it. It was interesting to see how each drew the same object differently. We plant our herbs in a pot so that I can take them into the house for the winter when it starts to get cold.






Be thankful for a nice harvest. Eric was so excited to find this giant zucchini. Zucchini are better and the skins not so hard if the fruit is smaller and less seedy, though.

When it comes time to can, be sure to clean your vegetables well. Before canning peppers, they have to be soaked overnight in a brine.

After the 24 hrs, take your peppers out of the brine and put them into the jars.

Make sure you show the Littles how to help so they like to help! It is so fun to do the work when you are little.

Read all about the proper canning techniques so you know what to do. Get Mom in on this one... even she will learn a lot!

to cook ...  and cook
   

and can                                       and can

     

Then, you will be able to enjoy the fruit of your labor

We had a lot of fun in our garden, and I wish I could post all of the pictures!!

And, this photo journal was a lot of fun, too... and a great way to chronicle some of what our summer homeschooling looks like!! It is also a great culmination of what I wrote about in March: Gardening 101 - You *Can* Teach Your Children!!


blessings! 
Jacque

 

So I have been checking back over at Sprittibee's yesterday and today to see if she announced the winner. Nope. But she did do a really cute entry herself with her daughter. Today I went back and she said she had gotten the help of 6 judges and would announce it later.

So I was busy checking my mail and this is what I saw:

 Heather Bee: " : ) YOU WON! "

I was so excited. All my hard work and uploading all these pictures on dial-up paid off. So just to let you all know, if you weren't on my IM or email list;

I WON THE PRINTER! YAAAAAAYYYY!!

Thank you Heather for hosting this!

 

I worked really hard on Monday night to get in an entry for Sprittibee's Printer contest...
I was going to link it and send you over there, but, since it was a Homeschool Photo Essay, I think I will just copy/paste!  Did you know I have a homestead blog?? ;)

I hope you enjoy it!
Blessings!

 

Hey!

4:50 PM, Wednesday, October 17, 2007 .. Posted by mh530

How are you?I am fine.What are you doing?I have been busy with school.How is your family?My family is fine.I am one Angela's girls.I am Megan.I will add you to my friends list.better go.
Megan

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6:35 PM, Wednesday, October 17, 2007 .. Posted by drewsfamilytx

What a great post, Jacque!

Your little Lucy and your garden turned out beautifully! :-)

I'm glad you chronicled from sowing to harvest-- I don't think I would've had the patience to watch it grow one day at a time. Looking at all those jars of deliciousness is making me hungry.

Okay, I'm inspired to plant a garden... but next year...

Have a great week!
Marsha

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8:13 PM, Wednesday, October 17, 2007 .. Posted by quietcajun

I love these photos! They are such precious memories! Thanks so much for taking the time to collate and describe the entire process! Makes my garden seem "mouse-sized"!!! Wish you lived nearby so you could teach me! :)

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9:15 PM, Wednesday, October 17, 2007 .. Posted by chickadee

that's great! love the photos. congratulations on winning.

afamiliarpath.blogspot.com

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11:45 PM, Wednesday, October 17, 2007 .. Posted by nancysnook

Comment removed by weblog owner

Edited by JacqueDixonSoulRestES on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:29 AM

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1:07 AM, Thursday, October 18, 2007 .. Posted by Anonymous

Can I have a jar of that salsa? a;djfljdfjlsjflas

CONGRATS on the win!!!!

-g

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8:05 AM, Thursday, October 18, 2007 .. Posted by Vicki

Great post. I would like to try gardening, although if keeping houseplants alive is any indication of how my garden outside would do, it would be more humane to the plants if I just didn't do it!! *LOL*

Really liked your post over at HWTB too!!

*HUGS*

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9:39 AM, Thursday, October 18, 2007 .. Posted by Anonymous

Congratulations on your new printer!

Thanks for sharing the wonderful garden pictures. I am still learning how to garden in Texas. I did get quite a few tomatoes out of my little garden patch last year. Yum!

Peace to you,
Renae
http://reflective.homeschooljournal.net

Congrats!

12:43 PM, Thursday, October 18, 2007 .. Posted by jaminacema

Great post! Congratulations on winning the printer!

Jamin

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2:05 PM, Thursday, October 18, 2007 .. Posted by totustuus

Aww...thanks so much for your comment!! And yeah, I guess you would have enough people to constitute as your own book club. ;-) Lol

It was really nice to read your post - and especially to see the pictures!! Gardening is really great...an awesome thing to do with kids/younger siblings!!

God bless,
Sylvia
Eph. 5:1-2

Congrats!!...

4:06 PM, Thursday, October 18, 2007 .. Posted by Buckeyeblog

...on winning the printer. How COOL is THAT?!

Hey...will come to my house and hold my hand so that I can have a garden like yours?!

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

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2:15 PM, Friday, October 19, 2007 .. Posted by genamayo

What wonderful pictures--and fun!
--Gena