The worm family

Gardening with a 4-yr. old requires a whole new way of looking at life in general. The small things are sometimes the most important.

We've had rain for several weeks almost non-stop so we are slow to begin our planting. We're planting a family/neighbor garden in the plot that my Daddy grew the very best tomatoes I've ever tasted, along with squash, cukes, peppers and whatever else struck his fancy. The garden has been badly neglected since he died in 2006 but this year I decided it was time to clear it out and use it.

There are 4 raised beds, approximately 3'x25' so there's lots of room for experimenting. The whole family is learning together and Colin has been so excited about planting the seeds that Nana bought. He's been carrying around the bag for days asking when we are going to plant.

Today it finally cleared off and Colin and I began. First we got all of our plants out to the garden and then our tools. I found a hole-digger (have no idea the correct term) amongst Daddy's tools and a spade and we started digging holes. Immediately Colin spotted a worm (a good sign for well airated soil).

"Take a picture of it Nana. It's willy coot." I showed him the picture. "No, Nana, I can't see it. Take a bigger picture."

Ok, Colin, now it's time to plant some of our plants. "No, Nana, we have to make a family of worms! We need a Mommy, Daddy, Colin and Dylan." I figured 3 more worms would be quick and easy to satisfy him. So we gathered our now 4 worms in a little puddle of water.

Now, Colin, let's plant our plants. "No, Nana, we have to finish our family." We have Colin, everyone is there. "No, Nana, we have to have a Nana worm and an Uncle Charles worm!" For some reason we had a hard time finding the required extra worms but at last we did. Success; we're finished, right? Wrong. "Nana, the worms are going to die if they don't have a house of dirt." So we take an empty plant pot, put some large leaves in the bottom, lots of dirt and Colin carefully and lovingly places the worms in their new home.

Now can we plant some of our plant's Colin? "Sure Nana." So in about 1 1/2 hours, we managed to get 5 plants in the ground. His job was to put the fertilizer in the hole. I hope you can't kill plants with too much fertilizer!

By now, he's a bit bored and wants to go play on the neighbor's swing set.