Fall Garden

Fall Garden, Celebrate the Season

Dirt is crusted under her fingernails. Pink shoes and mismatched socks are soggy from the hose. Sweaty curls are tangled. But all of that pales in comparison with her achievement. My girl pulled and cleaned a snack from the garden. All by herself. Wow.

Back in June, tiny hands sowed tiny seeds with not-so-tiny dreams of this day. The day our carrots would be ready for harvest. Twist and pull. Twist and pull. Months later we have this:

After a spring of careful planning and planting and a summer of weeding and watering, we celebrate fall in the garden. We celebrate the harvest. We celebrate the simple goodness of tending our small piece of land.

Have you every grown potatoes? Digging up this buried treasure gives my kiddos such pleasure. How exciting to search through the dark soil and feel the accomplishment with each plunk in the basket.

Think of all we can make with this bounty! Friday mornings are for learning kitchen skills. I can imagine the smells from simmering soups and baked sweets. Fall foods are so yummy.

There are also grapes to find on unruly vines and a lone apple to pick from the trees. (Meaning a field trip to the orchard is a must.) Don’t forget putting the strawberries to sleep under their blanket of straw. We will need to wait a bit longer before cutting back the asparagus. But the tomatoes and peppers can be picked clean. Each bed is finally cleared and ready for the winter’s rest.

Thank you, Father, for these opportunities to tend our land. It is such a gift.

We don’t live on a farm. We don’t have years of experience. We do, however, watch our children witness the wonder of God’s creativity. We teach them patience and diligence. We have reaped much more than vegetables and fruit this fall.

Next year, we hope to extend the growing season with more cool weather crops planted in late summer and early fall. Visits to our garden in November to find cabbage, kale and swiss chard would be a brand new adventure.

Does your homeschool include gardening? How do you celebrate fall in the garden?