Garden Update! (Mid-August 2019)

Weeds, weeds, and more weeds, my kingdom for a weed wacker!

But seriously, from a very rainy start, we’ve moved on to the sultry days of late June/early August. I’ve had a pretty busy week what with the birthday party and the actual birthday family dinner and swim lessons, coordinating chicken pick-ups and egg drop-offs, and being pregnant - pretty par for the course around here really. I’ve also recently been offered a part-time off-homestead job working with English Language Learner (ELL) students, so I’m preparing and excited about that as well.

While I’ve been occupied with all of that, my papi has been mowing and weed wacking like a maniac, and my mom has been super busy tending the garden. She is a gardening goddess really, so I thought I’d treat you all to a short, end-of-week post with garden update photos. Hope you enjoy!

Sometimes the dill plants itself - this blossom that was bright
yellow in June is now brown and depositing dill seeds
each time it is bumped or shaken

The tomato and pepper plants are
finally beginning to produce!

Jalapeños - mom weeded this bed, but the
weeds are encroaching from the paths

Some beds are still covered in plastic
to "control the weeds"
It's safe to say the plastic has had only
limited success longterm

Broccoli (and weeds)

More broccoli (and more weeds!)

Beautifully weeded tomato bed,
compliments of mom
The hover flies are being truly obnoxious
around this bed today

Beets - also weeded by mom
(are you sensing a theme???)

Cabbage bed and two beds covered with scraps of
landscaping cloth (seems to work better than the regular
plastic)
AKA I weeded a bed, it's a miracle!!!

Everbearing Strawberries -
the plants where I weeded are producing well,
but I need to weed the rest of the bed for
a third time

Green tomatoes are coming on - can't
wait to make some tomato sauce

I used some of the landscaping cloth to
kill grass and make a path to the far end
of the garden

The Benefits of Saying “no”

The boys head out to "dig coal"
(Alternate title: The boys head out to get
chased by "evil" geese)

Sometimes saying “no” is exactly the correct thing to say to your children. It is undoubtedly one of the hardest things to say to them, particularly when they pester and beg and pull out every trick from their “Being a kid” manual. It’s that sneaky book that children memorized before they were even born. You know the one - that one that we never receive a copy of for navigating this whole parenting experiment. Recently I’ve had the chance to see when saying “no” to my kids can be for their and my benefit.

Lately I have been feeling overwhelmed. I’m 26 weeks pregnant with kiddo number three, and this pregnancy is not nearly as friendly as my first two. The summer has been sweltering AND rainy AND stressful. The garden is a forest of weeds. It has been one of THOSE summers. There have been days where, despite knowing what I ought to do as a mother for my children, I just feel like curling up and binge watching Poldark while they watch PBS Kids or Craig of the Creek. It has not been my finest hour.

Within the past few weeks I’ve been trying a new tactic with my boys. It hasn’t been easy, but I think it’s helping us to transition to a healthier routine. A while back I created an activities chart. The boys must complete their tasks BEFORE they are allowed to use screens – no TV, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or tablet, until the list is completed.

This chart has not made me popular with
the boys, but they are being much friendlier
and less insistant on screen time
since we started using it.

Most days they’ve continued to ask for screens first thing in the morning and repeatedly during the day, but I’ve stuck to my decision and said “no.” In the past few days, they’ve finally, FINALLY stopped asking first thing for TV. Today they even went outside to play for a bit before breakfast. Enough tasks on the list has translated to more time playing and interacting and less time staring at screens. They often do not complete all of their tasks until 4pm or later. Since all screens are off for family dinner, they are self-limiting their screen time to 1-2 hours maximum.*

Homework: My 3yo works on a dry-erase
Early Learning book tracing and doodling

Homework: My soon-to-be 3rd grader works
on pages in Brain Quest or packets that his
2nd grade teachers sent home for the summer

We’re fighting less, and I’m finding time for my own projects - tending the garden and writing Morning Pages and this blog - while they work on their activities list. I feel less overwhelmed and have more time to get things done. They are playing together and collaborating on silly, creative projects (like “digging for coal or treasure” and puppet shows), and their attitude has greatly improved. They’re talking back and rolling their eyes less and are volunteering to help out more. The change has been painfully slow at times, but I think we’re finally seeing progress.

Morning Pages: This is my current notebook
for writing each morning. I try to squeeze in 3
pages before the day begins. 

It’s easy to say “no” to our kids when they are about to step into a dangerous situation – a hot pan on the stove, a busy parking lot. When it’s something that can seem innocuous like using screens, it can be A LOT more difficult. We’re still not perfectly within the latest recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, but we’re getting closer. If you’re struggling with this topic at home, you are NOT alone. It can take a lot more effort to say “no,” but kids benefit from face-to-face interactions, physical activity, feeling like they’re an important contributor to the family unit, and they even get better sleep at night when we say “no” to unlimited, mindless screen time and “yes” to healthy activities.  

*I allow them up to 30 minutes of video game time daily and then TV or a movie. Some days they play video games longer if they’re sharing well or are playing educational games, but generally I try to limit it.

For more info:

American Academy of Pediatrics

More on Morning Pages: 

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

A Day in June

SO on with the show. I had hoped to post this on June 14, but a once a week habit will have to do for now. Life being what life is – complicated!

In June I took some photos during a typically busy day here on Shepherd’s Flock Farm. We were in the midst of harvesting Music garlic, playing (I have two sons), and making hay. My oldest son noticed ripe wild Black Raspberries on the bushes, so I had to transition to harvesting the berries despite having laid other plans. We call that “Farm Time” around here. Sometimes a happy occurrence like ripe berries shifts your focus for a time. Sometimes a storm knocks a tree down across the road or a neighbor’s driveway, and that has to be dealt with before moving on to other projects. To live in close communion with nature means you will be kept on your toes with regularity.

Garden (west) - the rain has made for
healthy weeds in the garden this year

Garden (east) - regular weeding of beds
to rescue overwhelmed desireable plants helps

Garlic Harvest - I use a spadefork to loosen the
Music Garlic and then gently pull up each bulb for drying

Garlic Harvest - I borrowed Mom's cart to
haul garlic up for bundling/hanging out to dry

My boys have a garden bed dedicated to play

Occasionally they find tiny friends in the garden.
We examine them and then let them go.

Making hay - the activity for the afternoon

Making hay - Papi used a square baler to make hay on our
south field. Some of our friends and neighbors came over
to help out.

Some long, hot, sunny days have sweet endings.
While everyone else went to the barn to unload the hay bales,
I stayed and harvested wild Black Raspberries from
the perimeter of the field. Delicious!!!