Little Miss Green Thumbs

Last summer Jordan did a lot of planning because he wanted to plant a veggie garden in our backyard that strangely didn't already have one (by city standards our yard is pretty huge - you'd think someone before us would have had a garden?). He staked out exactly where the best sun would hit and dug away. We had mild success last year, using only the soil where he had dug up the grass, so this year he decided to commit with some stone raised beds and lots of our own composted soil. The current result is this:

Rio has become daddy's big helper with the garden. Last summer she was interested but being a year younger only partially understood. But this summer she has been part of the whole process, from building the beds, to planting the seeds, to weeding and watering and now to picking and eating. Every day she is thrilled to help out and it is so great to have her out breathing fresh summer air.

In addition to our lovely garden, we have two apple trees that are busting at the seams. Our yellow transparents are dropping like crazy so mad amounts of applesauce (and traditional english cider - hopefully better than last season's vinegar) will soon be underway. Later in the summer we will enjoy our gala/spartan graft, giving us lots of eaters and juicers. Currently Rio entertains herself by picking up the fallen apples from the ground, taking a bite or two, then lobbing them into the compost. She must be getting quite an arm!

I am so glad we have the space to allow a garden and let Rio start to have an understanding of where her food comes from and how lucky we are that we can grow it ourselves. (Because seriously, why is an ample selection of organic produce so hard to come by?!)