hello sunshine!

I haven't written in a while, and I apologize for that. It's been crazy busy at work and at home lately. I haven't had much resting time, let alone blogging time. This weekend I got sick with every germ the kids had the past couple weeks, plus the flu vaccination I got a little late, and so today, surprise surprise!, i have time! :)

The garden is growing well, as far as I can tell! The first batch of romaine lettuce continues to grow taller. I think I am going to have to cut some of the shoots that are crowded, to let some of them grow bigger. I read that that's the way to go, and that the shoots are still good to eat. We'll see if the kids will try them or not! Haha...
The second batch of romaine and other (unnammed) lettuce, and spinach is growing well also. The spinach is growing so fast! It's true leaves started showing up last week, and they're fun little sprouts too look at. Such a happy looking plant! I planted snow peas about ten days ago, and have some healthy looking sprouts coming up. It was fun, last Thursday, to literally watch the sprouts emerge from the soil!

I also added some clippings of basil and apple mint to our garden. They were in little glass bottles. Mr. Wind blew the apple mint out of its watery home, and it dried up before I could reach it. The two varieties of basil, however, are going strong. I will post a picture of the roots just starting to develop, but they are looking much hairier these days! So exciting! :) The basil is from my garden at home, and I don't know if the parent plants are going to make it this winter. I am hoping that the cuttings survive! :)

deep thoughts

The other day, I was harvesting my first- and last two vine-ripened tomatoes in the garden at my house, and I noticed another one is starting to grow. I was amazed! As it is, I am already astounded that the plant produced any fruit at all. It didn't produce fruit for a long time, and the tomatoes weren't very big, but... they were delicious! I really wasn't sure if I would get anything from it, because I had to transplant it from a raised bed that suffered from drainage issues and moldy soil. I transplanted it before the mold really took over the whole bed, and the plant has thanked me since!

The second tomato plant wasn't so lucky. However, while it was drying out in the moldy bed, it still managed to produce two little tomatoes, but I left them because I didn't know if they would be good, considering what was going on in the soil. I let the whole bed dry out, and the tomatoes continued to ripen.

I thought about my garden and the neglectful way I gardened that first garden. I watered it, sometimes. I never gave it food, because I didn't really know much about it at first. (I know better now, and know what to give the plants, and why!) I just let it grow with good old sunshine, water, and soil. I have been amazed at what has grown, and what hasn't with this haphazard way of farming. I harvested two mini bell peppers, three tomatoes (one fell off the vine while it was still green), rosemary, basil, and thyme. The watermelon never grew much, the cucumber died, and the squash never did more than grow some big promising flowers. That's what you get when you don't take good care of your garden though. If you don't feed it, your crop is only going to grow *so* big, if at all. If you don't give it proper drainage, mold will grow, and your crops will spoil. But... if you do take good care of it, fruit will grow!

I was reminded of this the other day when I was thinking about the church--any group of believers together-- and of spiritual growth. I was thinking of how things can grow in the middle of a neglected garden, but, when there is disease, nothing can grow. If you aren't spending real, regular, quality time with God, you aren't really feeding your spiritual garden. You might see some growth, and while it's true growth, the fruit isn't growing to its full potential. You might get some basil leaves, or a vine growing, but you might not ever get a watermelon or a cucumber growing. If, however, your garden has a disease problem, sin, you're not going to reap anything. What grows will die before it really becomes anything.

So, what do you do? If you're not producing fruit, and you want to... what do you do? Start by preparing the soil. Weeds, they gotta go. If you ask God to make aware any hidden sin in your life, he will. Yup... take it from me, he will! Pull those suckers out by their roots! Burn them! Get rid of them! Don't let them back in! :) Then you have to plant good seed. And water it. And give it food. That means spend real, quality time with God. Study his word. Talk to him. Feed your soul!

I can say this now, with strength from God, because I am a victor in this myself, in my own spiritual life. I tried for years to get rid of a specific sin. I would pull it out, but the roots wouldn't all come, and I didn't bother digging. Well, I finally dug. :) I can't say I'm not tempted ever, but I am staying strong in the Lord. It's not always easy, but it's getting easier with time. Just like gardening this second time around, with my class, I'm taking my time, growing from seeds, and taking care to nurture these little seedlings. I know more of what I'm doing this time around. I'm no expert, but I'm more knowledgeable, and... with God working on my side this time, we're gonna produce some fruit! (or vegetables!) :)

true leaves

Our first batch of lettuce developed its true leaves on Tuesday! It's exciting to watch our garden grow! By Thursday, we had lettuce sprouts all over in our second container, and the spinach sprouts really started showing up on Friday. It's been summer-hot this week, so the plants have been loving the sunshine and the warmth, soaking in the water and the sunshine.

I'm looking forward to the lettuce getting bigger so the kids will understand what it is that we are growing. Every day they are at school, we check our garden out, and we talk about how it's growing, and who makes it grow.

It's Growing!!!

L.F. came running to the gate yesterday, yelling, "it's growing! it's

growing!" Her enthusiasm for our garden makes everything worth it. :)

We planted some more seeds on Thursday... some more Romaine lettuce, and some other lettuce (the package doesn't say what kind... I'll do some research and find out), and spinach. All of it takes at least two months before harvest, but we should be able to enjoy a delicious salad by Christmastime! :)

Some of the kids are more into the planting than others. They're not all crazy about getting that dirty, even though I've been doing most of the dirty work for them. I let them rake the soil while i'm getting it all wet pre-planting, which they seem to enjoy. They take turns watering the plants too.

I still have plans to plant snap peas. If we have time on Tuesday, we'll get those in the ground and out in the sunshine!

I'm really excited about this garden. It's one of the highlights of this school year for me. I want to teach the kids about the different things that grow from seeds, how the plants grow, and how we can eat healthy by growing our own food. It's going to take a while for them to really understand, I think, mostly because, well, let's face it, they're three! Also, while some of them might have gardens at home, I don't know that all of them have vegetable or edible gardens.

When I was at a used book store the other week, I found this vintage book (1959) about growing seeds. It is typical vintage children's book--repetition nearing the point of annoyance for adult readers, but sheer joy and learning for children. My students talk in repetition anyways, so I think they'll love it! The little boy in the story plants all kinds of seeds (almost obsessively), but he can't get enough of it... I kind of feel the same way. I'm addicted. :)

Our first plants, the romaine lettuce we planted mid-September, is still growing nicely. I added a little more soil to the top, around the little seedlings, just so they won't get pulled up by anything. They're protected, but I don't want to take too many chances. I have bird netting over the containers to deter little fingers from poking around, as well as to deter from little critters doing the same. The little seedlings are growing though, and they make me smile with their happy little leaves.

This is good practice for me, because I really want to grow my own food someday... I mean, not just two small tomatoes and two wee peppers for the whole summer; I mean a full garden that will keep my family nourished! I also want the garden at school to be producing crops on a regular basis... Something the kids can all enjoy, and something that incorporates all the subjects we need to cover for early childhood education.

This school year has been an interesting one, but God is teaching me a lot. For example, perseverance, like a little plant, to push through the soil and seek after the sunshine. It's not easy. First you have to leave the protection of the seed, plant roots, and then determine which way is up, and find the sunshine. I don't always know what will be on the other side, but I do know I need to go through the hard parts in order to get there, and that the other side contains something I need, something that will make me whole, will help me grow, and will bring me closer to the Son. Perseverance, even when you don't want to persevere. Do more than just survive; Live.

Sometimes teaching is really hard. The kids don't always listen. They have their own agendas, and rarely do they coincide with yours. :) But I do know that there are special moments that God give us throughout the day/week/month that really help us and affirm us in our choice of ministry. I say "ministry" because that's exactly what teaching is... a ministry, a mission field. Little ones need to know about Jesus too... and how they can be a part of his Garden. :)

Sprouts!

Tuesday, the 27th, we had sprouts! They are little, but there are a few of them!

I wrote a note on our board telling the kids that our seeds had sprouted, and asked them to count how many sprouts they could see, and when L.F. came to school, after she was signed in, she came running up to me, yelling "They sprouted!!!" Her excitement made me so happy! The others didn't really notice so much, until we went out later to look in the planter to see how many plants were coming up. We counted six sprouts. :)

Sowing

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011, we officially started our garden. The first seeds we planted: romaine lettuce. I have never grown lettuce before, but I figured it would be a good plant to start with. The kids can eat it when it's grown, and I don't think it takes too long to grow.

I didn't have a lot of soil with me, so our planter is only half-full, but the kids helped me fill the planter, I poked 7 holes in the soil, and each one put a pinch of seeds in a hole, and then we buried the seeds and watered them.

As we planted, I talked to them about what a plant needs to grow: soil, water, and sun, and God uses all of that to make them grow!

The kids had a blast digging in the dirt. I'm anxious to plant our next seeds, but more than that, I'm anxious for these seeds to sprout. The seed packet says they will germinate in 5 days, which means next week, the kids should see some sprouts! So cool!

Hello!

I'd like to take a minute to introduce myself. I just started my second year of teaching preschool, and am absolutely loving it! I have a class of seven 3-year-olds (some nearly 3, some already 3). They are sweethearts, and I love them so much.

This last year, I became very interested in growing my own garden, essentially, growing my own food. Since I don't have a large yard, or live in a place where I could turn my front yard into an edible garden, or have poultry or other livestock, I began to experiment with raised beds and growing various herbs and vegetables. It has been hit or miss, but I'm learning a LOT!

I decided that this year, I really wanted to teach my students that they can grow their own food, and how that happens! I'm excited, a little nervous, but mostly excited. I know the kids probably won't be as excited as I am about the things we grow as I will be, but that's okay. If they learn anything about plants and how they grow, the process will be successful!

So, follow along with us on this journey of growing a garden outside our classroom!