Green Hands

I took the boys to the farm store this morning to pick out a couple more tomato cages. Buddy liked the huge, colorful ones. They looked plenty sturdy (officially labeled "Peony cages") and they weren't much more expensive than the grey metal ones, so I consented. I love having his help in the garden.

We also picked up some jute/twine and a healthy looking rhubarb plant. I've managed to kill three rhubarb plants before they ever made a single leaf for me. This time, baby, I'm going to make it work! My three other attempts rotted in the ground, thanks to super-wet Illinois springs. I had to give this one a real spot in the raised bed garden just to give it a fighting chance. Since the bunnies decimated 25% of my strawberry plants in 2 days, I suddenly had room for rhubarb. I guess I'll call it a blessing :)

Robert relishes any garden task that involves his shovel or a pair of scissors. He dug the hole to plant the rhubarb, then snipped jute while I installed the tomato cages. I tied up his bean-a-pillar plants, and then he asked, "Is there anything else I can do that needs digging or cutting?" I looked around and decided to attack some of the persistent plant pests that have bothered me these last couple growing seasons.

We dug up and hacked out a GIGANTIC, sprawling vine and its long, winding root that was 2 inches thick and at least 4 feet long. I hope we got enough of it out. Robert awarded me with 2 "rotten eggs"* at the end of that ordeal.

Then we tackled a big thistle, getting maybe 60% of the tap root. I have a feeling we'll see that guy again.

Then we assaulted a smaller thistle. 100% success!

Robert was on a shoveling roll and he just wanted to keep going. We worked up about 5-6 big dandelions and discovered an underground ants nest in the process.

When the pile of weeds was collected at the end, Robert awarded me "a gold medal of rotten eggs! a hundred hundred rotten eggs!"

We took our tools back to the garage and Robert asked if his shovel could hang next to mine. That's the first time ever. I think I got a little choked up (Curse these pregnancy hormones!).

Then we sat in the wagon and rested with water. Robert challenged me to fix the weed whacker. Turns out, it wasn't broken, so he encouraged me to weed-whack the overgrown clover around the bramble patch. That was fun for all of us. James gets a kick out of motorized tools. I picked up a wad of chopped clover and squeezed a puddle of dark green juice onto the driveway. My hands were stained. The boys loved it.

Just then, a big truck full of plants and shrubs drove up to our neighbor's house. Robert and James begged a closer look. So, we spent the next 20 minutes or so watching two guys plant a 15-foot tree in our neighbor's front yard. Robert kept saying stuff like, "I bet that's hard work. They must be hot and tired. It's going to take them a long time to dig a big hole with only two shovels. The hot sun makes me tired." It's hard to know how much the working guys heard of this. The whole process was fun to watch, but it was more fun watching the boys watch them.

Soon, it was lunch time and all three of us were green, muddy messes. We cleaned up, ate lunch, and celebrated a hot morning of work together with popsicles. 

Bring on the summer!

*Robert recently picked up the phrase, "Last one [insert activity here] is the rotten egg!" Alice can't stand to play it, Robert hates to lose, and James doesn't care either way. One day, Robert declared that the last one buckled in the car was the rotten egg. Alice immediately began protesting. I smiled and said that I would be happy to be the rotten egg. This intrigued Robert. He asked why and I explained that there's only one rotten egg in that game. I liked being the only one of something...it was special. From that day on, he decided to play the rotten egg game with only me. He lets me lose at everything because I like the rotten egg position so much. And even when I win, he awards me the rotten egg anyway because I like it better than winning. Somehow it has morphed into awarding rotten eggs to me whenever I do something he finds worthy of praise.