While the girls went out last weekend to attend a show, Riley and I stopped at the farm store on route 113 to have a look around. Inside, they had ducks and chickens and various rodents, but we were most interested in the garden seeds.
We bought many packs of seeds. Tomatoes, squash, carrots, lettuce, radishes… All kinds of tasty veggies. In addition to the seed, we got a little 72-spot starter planter and some starter soil. Buying the seeds and soil was basically a jumpstart for an idea that Berta had earlier.
Last week, Berta had been talking about putting some above-ground garden planters in the back yard. She was showing us these things from a catalog. You put this walls up and fill them with dirt and then plant your garden inside. This seems like a good idea. And she looked more recently through our home owners’ association guidelines, and there doesn’t seem to be any rule against planting a garden, which is good news.
Anyway, that afternoon, after the girls got home, we all helped to plant the seeds in the little incubator. First I dumped in a bunch of the new soil. Riley cut open all of the seed packets. Abby helped by planting the seeds into little holes I made with my finger and adding water.
Without buying the seeds then, I don’t know if we would ever have planted anything. But now having planted the seeds, it’s almost addictive to watch them grow and wan to plant more.
Within two days we had sprouts. My BabyCenter newsletter said that sharing the joy of planting with your kids is fun, especially if you use a fast-growing plant like a radish. 
We had no idea they would grow so fast, it’s amazing!
And now, not even a week after planting, we’ve got a fairly healthy sprouting of six out of eight of the veggies we planted. The eggplant and peppers seem reluctant, perhaps because we waited too late to plant them. But the beans, lettuce, squash, tomatoes, radishes and spinach are coming up nicely. Anyway, we’re going to have to order those new garden beds soon, because the radishes are already pushing against the lid.
