Parenting Under Pressure

In early March the chatter in the teacher’s lounge ran like a ticker tape through my mind: “Quarantined with Children, Woman is Eaten by Wild Alsatians Whilst Trying to Educate.”

I have been training for this my whole life- not the mom or teacher thing, but the how to survive in apocalyptic situations thing. Practically everything I read or watch that is not Jane Austen has some element of survival on the edge. A boyfriend once gifted me a copy of Pride & Prejudice AND Zombies– he knew me so well.

The first thing I did a month before we even knew we were going into quarantine, was to calmly walk into a local Aldi, and, without calling much attention to myself, bought a few cans of this and that. I didn’t want to hoard the food like a local Karen- you know the suburban woman who bought 90 days worth of chicken. In fact, I had worked it all out in my head- one item per meal per day for just a month and nothing more. I caught a glimpse of a suspicious veteran in my peripheral and placed half of my cans back on the shelf. He was on to me for sure.

I had not two months before sat on a panel for a WEL, Women’s Environmental Leadership Lecture, and listened to a neighborhood rep discuss ways in which she was trying to help her neighbors become food secure in the event that something catastrophic happened. We could not have known how real this was to feel.

So I thought to myself, how have we managed in years past? Now if you were like me you learned most of your history through your American girl dolls, and I recall Molly tending to her mother’s victory garden. I had been thinking about how to use gardens to educate my own littles and I hit on the perfect opportunity when my Midwestern neighbor sweetly asked if I needed anything from the local hardware. YES PLEASE- just a few seeds. And this is where we really BEGIN:

My favorite neighbor came back with these gorgeous heirloom seed packages.

I continued to make a list of fun things we would do for a week- HA!

I was looking forward to time with my son- time to reconnect because Mommy is not cool enough anymore. He’s become a tough boy interested in shooting imaginary bad guys and beating video bosses that I have no idea about.

I needed to make this fun. Recently we watched a Japanese classic My Neighbor Totoro and my son loves this movie so I pulled on this for inspiration. First we would need to envision how the nature spirit Totoro would grow his garden.

Day 1 Visualizing and Capturing Evidence

We took a trip around our current garden and I asked him to make space in his sketchbook to draw the mystery plants currently growing (I was really looking for a way for him to stop stepping on the hosta). Here is a pic of him guessing what the green buds are going to turn into:

We the took a trip around the backyard with my Cannon Rebel and I showed him how to work the camera- just a few settings, and how to use the zoom lens. He took some amazing photos of which I will show off more in another post. I supported the heavy lens as he practiced. I was gobsmacked by the results. My favorite of his first photos is this one of our dog licking her lips.

Showing him how to use and appreciate my “grown up camera” was actually easier than watching him awkwardly use the toy camera that I bought for him when he became a big brother.

I told him that the camera was another way for him to gather evidence that his plants are growing.

Planting: I didn’t want to buy a single thing for this so I went on a hunt through our recycling bin to find best pieces for individual seeds. We found an egg carton and plastic grapes container

 
I punctured holes in the egg carton and a used butter box with a Phillips head screw driver. I found a few additional planting containers laying around from years past. I helped him pack the dirt and make holes for the seeds. He’s learning how to write so I spelled out or modeled how to write on popsicle sticks.  He enjoyed making up names for his plants. I guess the names of the seeds were not captivating enough for this little guy. He got really into renaming the plants out of video game characters.

Day 2 -4 We brought the plants outside on the deck with us to get sun. By the end of the first week we saw green sprouts. He logged another drawing for his mystery journal.
I said “split the page in half and draw on one side what you notice today and on the other what you think each plant will look like by next week.”

Watching over the seedlings has helped him to have a ritual in the morning. Here he is making a cheesy super hero pose.

I always Always check the farmers almanac. We planned our own diy wedding for a deconstructed church space with no a/c, and I used the almanac to pinpoint the exact day. Since our wedding date was the most perfect weather ever, I have come to count on the wisdom of the farmers for all parties and planting. The farmers and my basic weather app said Late April is best for transferring seeded plants to avoid a surprise frost, despite the glorious early April we already experienced. Even the slightest frost could hurt our babies and we weren’t taking any chances.

Week 4 Building the Perimeter of the Garden Bed:

I used the packaging boxes from our local food delivery a Hungry Harvest to layer my garden bed and keep the weeds at bay. They have really helped us to get through this time by continuing to deliver food every Saturday. It makes me feel good to know that my city community also benefits from each harvest that I buy. I placed about three layers of bricks around a rectangular perimeter and my son helped me to “throw the dirt” in. We used some great organic soil I had laying around from our local Ace Hardeware.

This week we carefully took the squash and tomatoes out of their seedling containers and I turned the plants upside down to show off the roots. My son was fascinated to see the white roots and how they had grown from the very seeds he planted.

Now we just need to water them daily and keep this girl out of the bed….

Check back here to see our progress and lesson seeds, pun intended. Maybe I will also tackle the weeds and various other eye sores by the end of this.

–UPDATE: I just power washed the STUFF out of this 20 year old hand-me-down truck in the top corner. Power washing is my therapeutic power trip.