The Diller Family Garden

Back in the fall, Hannah and I rounded up the kids and planted a vegetable garden. This time I was determined to keep squirrels, chickens, coons, kids with shovels, etc. at bay and MAKE IT HAPPEN. Thrice weekly doses of water from the rain barrels, diligent weeding, and a careful eye have resulted in a full and productive garden. From left to right in the photo are mixed lettuces, beets, three rows of broccoli, and two more rows of beets.

What's most exciting is that finally the broccoli plants have all flowered, and we are not far from having garden broccoli on the table. The plant on the right in the photo below is about half the size of a head of broccoli you might find in the store, and it is growing daily.

Off to the right of the top photo is a raised bed were there is Swiss Chard and more lettuce. 

There's really nothing quite so gratifying as putting effort into a garden and then eating from it at the table. I've had a lot of fun watering and weeding it with the kids, and of course their favorite time is planting time, when they like to go crazy with the seeds. I usually give them a row to do on their own. In this garden, it was the lettuce row, and although it is massively overcrowded in spite of much thinning, they have ownership and at least one is slowly but surely getting a green thumb