I haven’t written much about gardening lately. That’s because I haven’t been doing any. My yard has been thriving in a state of benign neglect. This morning I rounded up kids and declared today Weeding Day. Kiki and Link took on the strawberry bed while I tackled the jungle that was my vegetable garden. The good news is that most of the jungle was happy vegetable plants. The tomato harvest is imminent. The chili harvest has already begun. The jalapenos aren’t ready yet, but I’m kind of glad because between anaheims and tomatos I’ve got enough to keep me busy for a while. one thing I discovered is that having only half the tomato plants in rings isn’t a good idea. I have a vague memory of knowing this months ago, but procrastinated buying more rings and now it is much too late. I’ll just have to pick tomatos every day so that I get them before the slugs do.
I also discovered that my kids don’t know how to weed. In an hour working together Kiki and Link managed to clear a one foot square patch of ground. In theory I was going to have them weeding once a week all summer long. That was an intention that never materialized. Maybe in these last three weeks before school starts I’ll make it happen. Or maybe not. I get so tired of trying to make them do things that they don’t want to do. They just don’t believe me when I say “You’ll thank me later.”
The hardest part for me as a kid trying to pull weeds was determining what was a weed and what was something that was supposed to grow there…
Frankly, as far as weeding ever went…
In all the times I heard “You’ll thank me later”, I have have yet to look back, ponder, and decided that yes, I am glad that I weeded…
Another childhood promise shot to heck… 🙂
Re: Frankly, as far as weeding ever went…
Heh. Papa used to say that to me all the time when I was younger. Now, the only time that it’s true is when I’m visiting him and helping him weed his garden. 🙂
Just tell them it builds character.
On an unrelated note, did Howard receive the box I sent? Should be full of (un)classified military documents…
Box has been recieved, yes. I haven’t had time to peruse the contents, though.
–Howard
You actually say that?
I have never been able to get myself to say “You’ll thank me later,” or “That’s right, my son, doing this will help you build character,” or any of the similar platitudes. In part, I’d guess part of it may be that it wasn’t my parents’ style either, but also in part because, even if it is true (frequently I doubt it is) saying that sort of thing only elicits more grumbles.
No one ever told me that teaching my kids to work would be so much more work than doing work. But their time will come, oh yes, now I know why grandparents are so happy: payback!
Re: You actually say that?
No, actually I don’t because I know they won’t believe it. But 90% of what I make them do is because I know they need to learn how. It is much much easier for me to clean up or weed or cook by myself, but I know that they will need those skills later in their lives and I will be doing my kids a disservice if I don’t teach the skills to them.
In this case it was anything not a strawberry plant. And I began the project by showing them several examples of strawberry plants.
Re: Frankly, as far as weeding ever went…
My kids may never be glad for having weeded, but at some point knowing how to work at an unpleasant project WILL be useful to them.
Glad you got it, and I hope you enjoy it. It makes for some interesting reading.
My mom felt it was just easier to cook by herself. I had to learn how to cook all by myself. (good thing I can follow directions!) Lately, she has apologized to me for that and has been cooking with the nearest grandchild. And I make sure the kids get to help me cook (which they really WANT to do!)
Growing up we gardened and weeded as a family… but, alas, I remember nothing and am having to learn another thing all on my own.
On the other hand, when it came to dishes, I felt like a slave.
We kids had turns all week long, but, my parents never had a turn.
To this day I hate doing dishes!
Now if I could just figure out how my mom did that laundry day thing and had all of us sorting and folding all of the clothes on our own!
And canning…