Little Red Homeschooling...

Our Little Red house has been bustling!!! In between snippets of sunshine and 60 degree days, our fingers are starting to itch to work in our garden. March came in chilly this year, with grey skies and rain. Not exactly spring-type weather... but things change quick around here and before we know it, our windows will be open and it will be time to watch our garden grow.

My 8 year old Molly takes a gardening class at co-op and 3 weeks ago she came home with a bag of bean seeds waiting to sprout. She watched it carefully as the little green seedling broke thru that hard layer of seed. She was so excited to watch it grow....

At the same time, I decided to double our garden space this year. Hubby and I are avid gardeners and had a quite large one when we lived in NY, but for some reason, we have not perfected southern soil. Our garden here is small and not as fruitful as we like. But every year in the spring, the itch comes back and we try again. This year is no different BUT I decided some pot plantings will work best. Doubling the garden in POTS instead of in the ground, where we can control the soil just might do the trick... and
Molly is my worker bee. She thrives best with jobs to do, hard work, instruction and tasks. Free time often finds her in trouble with her siblings, arguing or just chaos... but when given a "special" job that requires management and hard work and she just THRIVES! She is a HARD worker and a GOOD one! Sine she just adores being outside, what better way to put her skills and my idea to good use.

So, I did what any good homeschooling mom would do... I incorporated it right into our schooling day. With a handful of seed packets and plastic bags, she first sprouted them, then transferred the seedlings into cells with potting soil, added labels and covered....

After a very thorough online kids video of the seed cycle, the kids were MORE than thrilled to wait for the outcome...

In the meantime, we watch them grow and map out where we want to place them. I still need some pots and soil to transfer them once the threat of frost is over... and of course more herbs for my herb garden.

My Oregano is OUT.OF.CONTROL. and took over our strawberry patch... and every other spot on our lawn. Come summer, when hubby cuts the lawn, the sweet fragrance of sauce waifs thru our yard. Its quite funny... sometimes...

Im going to dig half of it up and give it to my aunt who wants wild oregano in her yard... but im not sure she realizes just how wild it is.

I can just see Molly now, waking up in the early light of the day to head outside and check on her plants. Pruning and weeding... checking the berries as they ripen. What a memory she will have as she grows up... and hopefully a tradition that she will pass on to HER kids...

Now if only hubby would agree to plant some fruit trees... Now THAT would really be awesome....

Just think Hun... home-made apple pie... whenever.you. want. Mmmmm

XoXo,

GiGi