Kids, Gardening, and Life

Harry has taught me a few things about gardening, most of them applicable to life in general. These lessons sound cliche because we hear them repeated often, but they resonate deeply when you learn them from a 3-year-old by example.

Specifically, I am thinking about our pumpkins. Encouraged by success with flowers last summer, this is the first year I have attempted to grow fruits and vegetables in earnest. Last fall I eagerly double-dug two 3x5 plots and a large tomato bed with homemade compost. Some of our "crops" from this modest patch have done quite well, some not so much. I have tried to take the "failures" as learning experiences, so that I can do better next year, but as a goal-oriented individual, this is not always easy for me.

Sometime this spring I had the idea to plant pumpkins to make our own jack-o-lanterns this fall. I thought it would be a great project to get the kids involved in from the planting of the seeds, straight through to harvesting and making our own Halloween decorations. We were out of space in our tiny garden plots, so I chose a spot near the stairs that gets fair sun. As we poked holes in the dirt and inserted pumpkin seeds, I warned Harry that our pumpkins might not grow, but if they didn't we could still buy pumpkins and have our jack-o-lanterns. I did not want him to be disappointed if this didn't work out.

Our first plantings mysteriously did not germinate. Finally, one plant tentatively poked out of the earth almost two weeks later, then mysteriously disappeared the next day. I told Harry that a little bunny must have come and eaten our new plants, that this happens sometimes, and that we would try again and plant more seeds. This time we protected the mound with a cage that Chris fashioned out of chicken wire.

Several days later, I was delighted to see a healthy pair of cotyledons poking out of the dirt. I told the kids we finally had a pumpkin plant and showed it to them. The next morning I was bringing stuff to the car and decided to check on our new plants. I discovered a slug happily pigging out on the remains of my seedling, and two more eating away at the other germinating seeds, just barely emerging. Well, mystery solved, anyway.

As we were headed out to the car on the way to work and school, I decided I might as well tell the kids what happened. I explained that I had found slugs eating our pumpkins this morning. Instead of sounding disappointed, Harry was excited and begged to see. Then, of course, Lily wanted to see too. So we hurried downstairs and watched the slugs munching what was left of our would-be jack-o-lanterns. The kids were absolutely fascinated and delighted. This appeared to be just as rewarding an outcome to them as having their own pumpkins to carve in the fall. I started to really watch myself, and found that it was actually very interesting to watch them eat the plants. Wildlife viewing does not always have to involve charismatic megafauna after all - slugs are actually kind of fascinating in their own way.

In the meantime, spring veggies are getting finished and some more space is free in our regular garden plot. We tried again - this time setting out beer traps for the slugs - and as of this morning, I have three seedlings poking out of the ground. They have survived their first night. We will have to wait and see.

Gardening is a great experiment of trial and error, not a project to be done and checked off on the to-do list. The joy is in the journey as well as in the destination. Sometimes you may not end up at the destination you thought you would - but my kids have taught me that sometimes, that can be just as well.