first harvest- radishes!!

in the tale of Laura Ingles Wilder, we just read about the crickets coming and destroying pa's prized wheat field.

it was gross... and reminded me of when the cicadas came.

do you remember cicadas?

i think i was in 3rd grade.  yuck.

too bad i didn't have a wheat field and a pa who wouldn't get new boots that year...

i could have written a great story about the cicada plagues.

can you see jakob doing his daily "week the garden" job?

i'm loving our little garden here at home, and wishing we had more time to spend at our bigger garden down the street.

this morning we picked our FIRST harvest.

cute, red radishes.

dare i call radishes beautiful?

i love the color-- that bright pinky-red.

and how they grow all clustered together.

(even though i thinned them out when they got their second set of leaves- i read about that in a children's "my first garden" book.)

{want to see some flowers from my backyard?  they're beautiful too...
and glistening because it was raining when i took the shots.
this is Oregon.
Mother Nature often waters her plants in Oregon.
it is LOVELY here!!!!!!!}

i've already told you that i think seeds are AMAZING and lovely.

radish seeds look like a poppy seeds... (i think.  maybe that was carrots and radishes look like sesame seeds.) 

they GROW to be beautiful, bright colored plants.

IN-CRED-IBLE!!!!

isn't it fun to see the RED peeking under all that green??!!!

gardens intrigue me.

there are so many things in life that i wish i could just learn about.

herbs, for one thing.

don't you wish you really understood herbs better and could use them to keep your family healthy and avoid some of the stronger, major prescriptions out there?

{i get so frustrated trying to learn about alternative medicine because it is hard to discern.  it is easy to get fixated on certain aspects on health that you loose your power to enjoy life and loose the importance of life BALANCE.  I think this is an area where i feel like i have to really trust the person giving me advice or spend too much time trying to figure things out for myself.  And, it bugs me that everything is SO EXPENSIVE.  if garlic is healthy for me, i should be able to eat garlic and get the benefits from it.  Why do i have to buy a bottle of specialized garlic that costs $48??  blah.}

maybe you already know about herbs...  i have learned a little, but i wish i knew more.

hmm.  maybe i need to study up on that?!

gardening is another one of these areas that intrigues me.

i see a whole dimension of learning that i am just scratching the surface on.

ha!  i should say... um, i have learned how to plant a seed-- and to pull a weed.

baby steps people.

WHY are my zucchini plants HUGE and my cucumber plants still small?

What the heck to i do with a celery plant?  It looks big... is it done yet?

Why are my tomatoes flourishing and my peppers, weak and yellowish?

can you see my big, green tomato plants behind my small, yellowish pepper plants?

Why is my spinach sickly... and my romaine lettuce happy and healthy?

Now that i've grown some food herbs-- how the heck do i use them?

Why do real-live herbs look so different from the ones i buy in little spice containers?

i'm scared to cut them... i don't really know what they are?!!

yup, not really sure i was meant to be a farmer's wife after all.

Just like life, sometimes i spend all my time pulling weeds and not enough time LEARNING how to make my plants FLOURISH.

the sugar baby watermelon that died.

And, sometimes i spend too much time mourning the passing of my beloved "sugar baby watermelon' plant and not enough time enjoying my FIRST harvest.

We've got RADISHES people!!

Time to make a salad!!  

LOTS of SALAD!!
good thing my kids like to eat radishes?  well, at least the ones in the grocery store.
we haven't actually tasted real-live home grown radishes before...
ope you have a great day too!!