Inch by Inch, Row by Row

I saw a robin today. Two actually, on the median looking for a snack. Spring must be here.

I am so ready. If you know me, you've heard me say that winter is my favorite season. And it was, I think, before kids. I loved snow and cold and lots of warm stews. But the ordeal of ice and coats and hats and runny noses and playing inside has taken its toll. And I am ready for spring.

The other day, DD and I went looking for it in the yard. We spotted a few clumps of snow drops coming up next to our rock wall. And there are several tulip sprouts peaking up in our tulip ring by the mailbox. She was so excited and pulled back the leaves several times by hersef to look at the tulip sprouts.

And they are both planning our garden, based on what is in Little Bear's garden in the tv show and on various books we have about gardens (including a picture book of the song in this post's title and a very eco-friendly book about a groundhog by Lynne Cherry). Corn is high on the list for DD and tomatoes for DS. They are excited about planting and watching them grow. They've even scouted spots in the yard.

Mind you, I come from gardening stock--my grandparents had an amazing garden in the country with all good things. I remember seeing asparagus poking out of the ground, watermelon growing all around, tall corn, tomatoes (which even then I wouldn't eat). I don't know if my mom's mom gardened--maybe a Victory garden during the war? But I grew up in suburbia, and we didn't have much of a garden for any stretch of time. There was, however, a cute story about my helping Mom in the yard one day--planting my little 4 year old feet in the ground and saying, "Now I will grow!" Dad grew roses and much later tomatoes, but not much else. I think I had a strawberry plant one year as a child but the squirrels ate them all. DP grew up in the city and, while her parents liked gardening, there wasn't much space (though they still managed to grow more tomatoes than they all could eat, as well as strawberries and snow peas). And in the years that we've owned the house, we've put in some roses and a lilac bush (I'm partial to a flower garden and would love something good and English cottage-like, but that's tons of work, rather like graduate school in gardening. And I can't read yet!), as well as some herbs, but we have been mostly unsuccessful and discouraged. Now, with kiddos, we both have great intentions and no experience.

We're organized, research-oriented gals and so we love a project. And this is going to be the one for this year. We're considering theme areas--the "pizza" section with basil, tomatoes, and oregano, as well as the "First Peoples" section with the "three sisters", squash, beans, and corn. And the kids would like all of that. So, we're getting ready--soil tests, seed catalogs, studying our yard's sun patterns, books on green gardening and gardening with kids. But it's all a bit daunting, especially as we want it to be both successful as a garden and fun for the kids.

Are there any gardeners out there? Any suggestions?

Spring is almost here, you know . . .