I took our Master Plant List to Lowes (a purple note card), along with all three boys. Granted, I know what I’m in for each time I take the boys there.  And they know, too. They claim we’re always there far longer than we originally promise: they’re right.  I make sure I’m well-rested or well-caffeinated so I can handle the over-stimulation, along with the need to make decisions. On this trip, most of our shopping would take place outside, at the Garden Center, so I figured it might go a little smoother.

Each boy selected which tomato plant he wanted: early girl, big beef, roma, little tomatoes, etc. Each boy selected which cucumber plant looked the strongest, which chive plant looked the fullest, which hot peppers might provide the biggest kick when eaten: chili red or jalapeno? Our shopping cart quickly filled with veggie plants.

Then, we went inside to purchase some seeds: carrots, corn, beans, peas, and a few herbs.

All was going smoothly until then, but when the boys started grabbing axes and giant picks – and of course, wielding them as weapons –  I knew our trip to Lowe’s needed to end.

Each boy gets to select what vegetables he wants to grow. I love growing herbs – dill and basil – and tomatoes and cucumbers. I dry the dill and make vegetable dip with it all year long. I freeze the basil and add it to soups in the winter. I simply love watching tomatoes and cucumbers grow. Tomatoes have those delicate white flowers, and I get so excited when I see the small, green ball grow from within. The cucumbers hide under their leaves; one day they are a few inches long, and two days later, they are full grown and ready to pick. Both are a summer treat to eat.

Before we bought our plants, I sat with the boys at the computer, and helped them plan what they wanted to grow. I needed a shopping list, and I wanted to make sure we got the right amount of plants and seeds to fill all the garden beds. I created a simple table, separated into 16 sections, that they filled in the squares using a Square Foot Gardening Planting Guide (atlantishydroponics.com). This visual guide showed them what they could grow, and how many of each vegetable could be planted in each square foot. For example, you can plant one tomato plant in one square, four green bean plants in another square, and sixteen carrots in another, and so on.

The boys made great selections:

REX: Rex, the oldest, is curious by nature. His garden consists of his favorites – chives and carrots – but also some experimental plants he knows nothing about, like bok choy and sage. At age four, Rex would pick chives from our garden and chew on them while playing: a little boy with stinky onion breath. Here’s a list of what he planned for his garden (the numbers note the number of squares dedicated to each plant) : Chives (2), cilantro (1), dill (1), bok choy (1), peas (1), basil (1), potatoes (1), tomatoes (1), green pepper (1), jalapeno (1), chili red pepper (1), carrots (1), onions (1), cucumber (1), lettuce (2).

JUDE: Jude is the most enthusiastic about this little project. If he could, he would plant everything on the list. He is also enthusiastic about potatoes, so five of his squares include tubers. He also wanted cucumbers (2), carrots (1), sage (1), dill (1), cilantro (1), corn (1), egg plant (1), beans (1), tomato (1), and lettuce (1).

“To-ma-toes,” Jude sounds out as he fills in his garden grid. Then he pauses and looks at me seriously, “How do you spell toes?”

MORRIS: Morris knows what he likes, at age 4, and he told me, “I want cabbage, spinach, and carrots…and that’s it.” Okay. So, I helped him fill out his Garden Sheet with plenty of those vegetables, but I added some others I knew he would like to watch grow: carrots (2), cabbage (2), spinach (2), green beans (4), peas (4), tomato (1).

Here’s a little conversation I had with Mo about planting:

“I want apples,” Morris declared as we’re planning his garden.

“Apples grow on trees, so we can’t plant them,” I responded.

He’s not giving up. “No, you still can. Put a seed in it,” He nodded with finality.

It’s as simple as that to him.

I remember selecting plants the first summer I grew a garden. Could I really plant green peppers, tomatoes, and yellow squash in my own back yard? And they would grow and I could eat them?! It amazed me that there was an alternative to the grocery store, as if I didn’t really believe they came from the land…even though I’m a native Iowan.

And then I fell in love with watching a garden grow. If you look carefully, you can truly see a difference in your plants every day. Maybe one squash loses its creamy-orange flower. Maybe one strand of dill shoots taller. Maybe one tomato gets a little redder. The changes are so rewarding to notice.

Could I say the same about watching my boys grow? Well, they seem to grow a little slower, but all of the sudden I’ll notice that their pants are too short, and their big toe is all the way to the tip of their shoes. When did that happen?! It’s as if there was no incremental change, but it happened in a burst. And yet, I know better. They’re growing all the time, and I’m both delighted and melancholy about it. Of course, growing means they’re healthy, but it also means they’re getting older, and I want to hold on to them as long as I can.

My three boys traveled with me to Lowe’s to purchase lumber and brackets for their planters. There’s a lot they can do in that store – as you can see – so I try to go when it’s not very busy. That way, boys lounging on piles of lumber or playing tag while the wood is cut, is not distracting (annoying) to other customers.

I purchased 8 x 10 treated planks, which Lowe’s employees cut in half for me,  a much better option than my husband cutting them. Those long planks are awkward for one man, and it’s an extra step I can take care of.  The garden beds will be four feet by four feet.

I also purchased  L-brackets to help hold the wood together. These don’t do the job alone – lots of long screws are added in random places – but they help in the event that some screws loosen.

Building the boys’ planters requires husband and wife teamwork. Generally, my hubby and I tackle projects pretty well. I hold the four foot boards steady while Ty uses the power drill. The boys dance around the activity and jump on the trampoline.

BUILDING THE PLANTERS and DIRT WORK

Building the boys’ planters requires teamwork. Generally, my hubby and I tackle projects pretty well. I hold the four foot boards steady while Ty uses the power drill. We move from corner to corner, over and over, until all 16 corners are secured. The boys dance around the activity and jump on the trampoline.

Once the planters are built (one for each boy, one for my husband = 4), there is still a lot of work to be done: mostly dirt work. Dirt is not cheap, even when it’s in abundance all around you. Our neighbor has a skid loader, and he plopped mounds of Iowa soil into the garden beds. I evened out the earth with a shovel and raked out the clots and rocks (not easy!). Then, I added peat moss and potting soil for extra nourishment. These details are quick sentences in my post, but there was a lot of time, shoveling, raking, and sweat involved – all mine – before plants could be planted.

I’ve read a lot about Square Foot Gardening, and I know there is a soil to fertilizer to peat moss ratio, but I didn’t quite follow it. For one, I couldn’t imagine how many bags of each I’d have to buy, haul to the backyard, and dump to fill all the planters. Too many. For two, Iowa dirt has a pretty good track record for making things grow, and I decided I’d bank on it. So, the majority of our planters are filled with soil from home.

My next step was to make a grid, again a tenet of Square Foot Gardening. I measured and marked one foot along each side of the garden bed. Then, I banged a nail into the side every foot. Then, I connected a string of jute from one nail, across the bed to another nail. Finally, a grid: 16, one foot by one foot squares for each planter. I repeated this process for each planter, a total of four times.

The gardens are ready for planting!

OUR PROJECT

What do I love most? Spending time with my husband and three boys, of course! Rex is 9, Jude is 7, and Morris is 4. And, I also really love to garden. So, why not put them together? Boys and gardens. Boys growing gardens. My growing boys growing gardens. We’ll give it a try!

This summer of 2016, each of my boys will grow his own vegetable garden. Each boy will decide what to grow, and he will take care of the watering, tending, and harvesting.

I’ve set a few guidelines, or Garden Rules, to make sure Momma doesn’t take over, and the boys are responsible for making sure their gardens thrive.

Rule 1: These are the boys’ gardens, and they are in charge of growing, tending, watering, and weeding them.

Rule 2: Mom and dad do not touch a boy’s garden – even if they mean well – unless given permission.

Rule 3: Brothers may not touch another brother’s garden – even if they mean well – unless given permission.

Rule 4: Boys may decorate their gardens and make them their own. (See Rule 1)

Given my creative boys, I may have to come up with more Garden Rules later… We’ll start with these.

What inspired me to do this?

I am reminded of past sunny days, when my boys strolled with me to our garden to see how it changed. In the spring, they helped me bury the different seeds and plant the baby plants. Throughout the summer, they helped me water and weed the garden beds to keep our plants healthy and happy. I showed them the little bean plants sprouting, and the small bulbs growing off the end of the tomato flowers. They noticed how much bigger a cucumber had grown even in one day. We picked and sampled the cilantro and chives. And when ready, it was a true treat when one of you picked a veggie from our garden for our supper.

I think we are ready!