The hobby I never thought I’d have

I have made mention of our garden in several posts, and it's been the main topic of a few, as well (this one, and this one, and this one).  I don't know that I have ever listed "gardening" amongst my hobbies, though.  When I came to the revelation recently, I tried to figure out why I did not necessarily recognize it as a hobby.  It does not necessarily feel like something I do in my leisure time, because it's just part of our daily rhythm.  And for pleasure...?  The time, sweat, sometimes blood, bug bites, physical exertion - those do not seem pleasurable.  

I was raised by gardeners, and growing up, I was expected to help with the tending, harvesting, and processing (washing/cutting/freezing/canning) of a large variety of produce.  While my memories of all this are not the fondest (by no fault of my parents - it was just not always my first choice of summer activities, but in retrospect and as a parent myself, now, I understand and recognize how beneficial it was), I do have fond memories of enjoying the fruits of our labor.  There's simply nothing like garden cucumbers, fresh green beans, homegrown corn on the cob, peas straight out of the pod, garden-fresh asparagus, and cherry tomatoes still warm from the sun, to name a few.  I was raised on this type of produce, so it is just in my blood to desire this for my own family, I suppose, despite knowing how much effort goes into acquiring it.  I'm so thankful to have married a man who is on board with this and was even excited to research, build, and maintain such a wonderful garden plot for us.

Hard to capture it all in one picture, but I'm always amazed at what grows from seemingly nothing.
(You can see "before" pictures in the links above - it looked the same this year before things started growing.)

I think gardening is fairly universally considered to be hard work. That said, I think it can be as much or as little work as you make it.  If you're ok with weeds between rows, bugs and other pests, and plants that might not be at their happiest, then the simple act of harvesting is fairly straightforward, and the time commitment is only dependent on the size of your garden plot.   If you're like me, however, and want to pull every weed you see, keep the pests at bay (but without chemicals, due to your tiny helpers and the oldest one's enjoyment of eating his harvest straight from the plant), and make sure the plants are well-pruned and watered, it can become a significant amount of work and time commitment.

Chemical-free case in point: he loves to lick/chew the end of rhubarb stalks.

For example, we spent a solid hour last weekend hunting for, picking, and burning squash bug eggs (and bugs, themselves, when we could).  We have had issues with these pests every year, and so far this year, we had been able to keep them at bay long enough to get a good harvest from our plants before the bugs destroyed them.  That Saturday morning, however, I found cluster after cluster of their eggs, and though the plants were nearly done producing anyway, my OCD (and anger with these annoying, relentless creatures) kicked in, and I enlisted help to hunt, find, and kill as many as possible.  I had just had a conversation with my mom (and garden mentor) about the fact that I had seen these bugs as eggs and adults, but nothing in between, and ironically, we saw everything in between that morning; from squishing an adult bug only to have eggs squish out, to actively hatching ones, to teenagers, to adults mating - it was simultaneously fascinating, infuriating, and disgusting.  I felt like a crazy person (and still do as I type it all out to share with the world) in my near-rampage to rid our beautiful plants of these parasites.

The only photo evidence I took time to collect, but do you see those little tiny hatchlings?!  So gross.  (This is also the morning Jacob learned the word "gross." Ha.)

We have also warded off tiny slugs this year, as well as white flies.  The moles have been very active, too, and we're still figuring out how to best get rid of them.  Again, I am thankful for a husband who is such a capable and willing partner in all this, as well as fellow gardeners who are always ready with suggestions and helpful hints.

The newest addition to the garden is our owl, Kawzaz (you can probably guess who named him).
He has seemed to be fairly effective in his job of scaring squirrels and birds away, and Jacob loves him (he asked for this picture to be taken).

If you follow me on social media and/or see our family on a regular basis, you know we have had an abundance of cucumbers and other produce this year...and have probably been offered some.  ☺  While I'm not up to tackling traditional canning, just yet, I did make some refrigerator pickles we enjoyed!  We also put out a cooler of produce in the middle of our neighborhood and had a few takers.

I wish I could've captured Jacob's explanation of this when he was telling a friend about the produce sign; he didn't miss a step when recounting how and why we made it, what it was for, or how others made use of it.

Not everything produced a bumper crop...the spinach got nipped by that late freeze, and this was our entire harvest. 
This picture still makes me laugh out loud.

There were a few weeks, however, that this was our harvest nearly every-other day!

The happiest basil leaves you ever did see (that's my hand!).

I can't remember how much I've mentioned our neighbors here, but we have some really amazing ones.  One of the couples has an awesome garden, and they challenged Jacob to a tomato-growing contest!  They gave him the plant (Beefsteak variety), helped him plant it, and regularly ask him how it's doing.  It was such a sweet gesture and gave him even more motivation to help me tend to the garden this year.  Of course, I made sure to document it:

So many pictures with boots!  Who knew these consignment sale treasures would be such a valuable investment.  We almost always go to the garden during Lydia's morning nap, so the grass is still very wet with dew.  Doesn't hurt that these are also the easiest and quickest for him to put on himself.  :)

It's fun (and crazy and sad) to see how much HE has grown, as well, in these few short months.

"It's almost ripe!"

Jacob asked if he could take some "up close pictures" of his plant.
This is one of sevvvveral.  ;)

This 13.4 oz.-er put him in first place, so far!

The produce we have harvested, enjoyed, and shared is not the only benefit we have experienced as a result of the hard work put into our garden.  

• It has taught Jacob the long-term value of putting forth time and effort to accomplish a goal.  I try very hard not to force or guilt anyone, especially Jacob, into helping.  Some days he'd rather not pull weeds, but others, it's something he is genuinely excited to do.  He has come to learn the more he helps out, the sooner we can move on to other activities.
• There have been numerous nature encounters, and therefore, lessons.  On a few occasions, they have directly correlated with the preschool curriculum we have been working through!
• We have been able to invite others to help and be part of the process, and they have truly enjoyed it.
• Our garden is a common and easy topic of conversation, especially when there are not many "neutral" things to make small talk about, lately.
• Obviously, but significantly, we get ample fresh air and vitamin D while working in the garden, and the calories burned don't hurt, either.

Most importantly, however, the time we spend together in the garden is...something I can't put into words.  Lovely, maybe?  Therapeutic, perhaps?  It is almost always free of conflict, whining and other behavioral issues, and distractions.  My personality type values productivity, so the fact that we are spending such focused, productive quality time together doing something we both enjoy is so good for my soul.  Truly.  Simply put, it's good for all of us.

I know this post is lengthy and the thoughts are vast, but perhaps now you can see how I came to the realization (even if everyone else already had) that gardening is one of my hobbies.  It is constant, un-glamorous, and demanding work, but the benefits far outweigh the costs.  When I am able to focus on those benefits, it really is something I enjoy.  Something that I do for pleasure.  A hobby.

Dirty fingernailedly,

Kensy

Favorites of the day:

chocolate chip cookies

I can't even handle her excitement about her first time in Grandma and Grandpa's sandbox.
(Yes, she ate several handfuls, and yes, we all survived.)

Jacob is including her in play more and more, and it is just so precious to me.
So is her smile...and her tiny sprout of a ponytail. 

Speaking of precious:
We went on our first proper date in who knows how long the other day.  So, of course, we asked our sitter to take a picture.  Jacob assumed he was to be included in this, and stepped right into the shot with the best unsolicited smile we've seen from him (while being photographed) in months.
We did end up getting a shot of just us (which we also haven't done in who knows how long), but there are lots of reasons to love this one, too.  :)