“I have often thought that if heaven
had given me choice of my position and calling,
it should have been on a rich spot of earth, well watered,
and near a good market for the productions of the garden.
No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth,
and no culture comparable to that of the garden.
Such a variety of subjects, some one always coming to perfection,
the failure of one thing repaired by the success of another,
and instead of one harvest a continued one through the year.”
“Are we watering tonight?” my daughter asked me, as she placed her empty dinner plate on the counter for washing.
“Yes, you don’t mind, do you?” I questioned, as the dishes were plunged into a pot of soapy water, awaiting the washing-up of another family meal.
The garden … our summer project for the past few years … it takes up a lot of our energy and time, but we are learning so much and benefiting from healthy food in the process.
Every morning, we weed a section.
Every evening, we water the garden.
This is all done together – the children and I. I like to think we are building bonds and storing up good memories of our family life. Our garden is time consuming, but oh so worth it! I know you have heard me say this before – it is so worth it, worth every hour hoeing, worth every minute watering and worth all the hours canning and putting up preserves for the winter.
And, I, too, enjoy it. My sixteen year old daughter told me she likes weeding – that is a lovely thing to hear! I know I did not enjoy weeding as a child so I am grateful I have helpers that do not complain — most days. 🙂
She is in charge of the garlic patch and is hoping to sell some this fall as she is saving up for a pedal harp, which she plays.
{the garlic patch}
Past the garlic patch, you will find the potatoes, squash, zucchini, pumpkins and cucumbers. It is hard to see it in this photo.
The little children love to see the water roll about on the cabbage leaves … it is so lovely to see my children observing nature without a regimented lesson or prompting …
Scarlet runner beans {which have now reached the top of the poles} are slowly creeping and climbing our bean tunnel. A friend told me there a runner beans with pink flowers so we must have those for next year … the bean tunnel was also an idea from George Washington’s garden.
With our July humid and hot weather, the plants have grown so much already since this photo was taken … every day there is new growth … we like to use some CPT as a fertilizer. {What’s CPT? It’s our code word for Cow-Poo-Tea … a large bucket of water mixed with a lovely cow paddy … wonderful!}
As mentioned before, we decided to go with a George Washington themed garden. We made several features that were designed after what we saw online and in books regarding his stunning garden. If you want garden inspiration, look up his gardens! They are beautiful.
While studying George Washington’s story, we discovered, when he was a young lad, his father once planted his son’s name in cabbages in the garden. Thinking that was extremely creative, we did the same in lettuce – The Gauthier Salad bar. It has added some fun to the garden time, for sure!
We water using rain water tanks (pictures above at the back of the garden) or we will a cube water container from the river and then pump it out with a little battery pump and hand water everything. It takes a while but it is good way to know what is growing or struggling in the garden.
George Washington also had a water cistern in his garden – also a brilliant and timely idea. We found a used “pond” and dug it into the centre of the garden, added some water and rocks and a few plants, along with a solar fountain. It is a fun feature, although it cannot actually water the entire garden.
You will notice the pea tee-pees – also an idea from his garden, along with the pie shaped beds, bordered with flowers. Washington had hundred of flowers in his garden, bordering all the beds. We tried our best to get each bed to contain flowers – we have sunflowers, bachelor buttons, zinnias, and some annuals. The flowers have all grown quite large now – it is lovely! The bachelor buttons which I plant to dry for tea.
We have found our honey bees and lots of frogs love this little pond … along with the two young boys of our family. Often, on hot days, they are in the little pond, cooling off while we weed!
The garden certainly keeps our hands, bodies and minds busy. And in this topy turvy 2020, it is a peaceful retreat, worth all the toil and hours in the sun. We are thankful, so thankful, for the garden.
“Agriculture is the greatest among arts,
for it is first in supplying our necessities.
It is the mother and nurse of all other arts …
We ought to count among the benefits of agriculture the charm
which the practice of it communicates to a country life.
Health, the first and best of all the blessings of life,
is preserved and fortified by the practice of agriculture.
That state of well-being which we feel and cannot define;
that self-satisfied disposition which depends, perhaps,
on the perfect equilibrium and easy play of vital forces,
turns the slightest acts to pleasure,
and makes every exertion of our faculties a source of enjoyment.”
-The Royal Path of Life
by Gigi
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