Kinder-Garten

As promised, I am providing a little post about the Children's Garden. This special garden was created in the Spring. The Professor tilled new earth at my request, providing the gardener's apprentices with an 8' x 8' square to divide into four equal parts. I consider this to be a primitive form for the garden that will creatively mature along with its Junior Gardeners. Naturally, the Little Queen didn't plant anything, being still such a little sprout herself, but a few stray seeds wandered into her patch and are starting to show some promise.

In the center of the garden, the children planted a ring of sunflowers which are just about ready to burst into flower. We planted a moulin rouge variety which is expected to produce a red/orange/yellow flower, perhaps like the hues in my Mexican Flame Vine pictured above. Here is what the sunflower blossoms looked like yesterday:


These are not the super giant variety of sunflowers, but still, they are taller than Sunshine and Rosebud. We are worried now that the brilliant corolla will not be revealed until after we depart. Perhaps we will need to beg a neighbor to photograph the flowers in our absence. Would be an awful pity, though, to miss the show ourselves.

From the book, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots (link in sidebar), we have been inspired to build a sunflower house for next year. Begin by planting good stalky sunflowers around the perimeter of a square. Then plant four o' clocks at the bases of these. Once the sunflowers have acheived their height, create a ceiling by tieing twine to the stalks opposite one another. Once the four o' clocks grow across the twine, the children should have a delightful, filtered-shade playhouse. Be sure to leave a gap for an entrance!

In the photo to the right, Rosebud stands reverently amongst the basil, sunflowers and peppers in her patch. Basil is always a prized ingredient in our summer kitchen pounded into a delicious pesto or cooked slightly with olive oil, seasoned tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese. We even have a recipe for basil ice cream that I have been curious to try sometime when there is a bumper crop. Basil is one of the tastes of summer that can still be captured on a cool winter's night because we usually make lots of extra pesto and freeze it for quick dinners. My favorite is a tomato pesto which when spread on a grilled cheese sandwich is absolutely fantastic.



To the left is one of the cosmos from Sunshine's garden. The plants have a vigorous foliage and are ready to burst into color, especially compared to the paltry cosmos I planted in a shadier area of the yard. Sunshine also has a productive tomato plant and a slow growing lavender plant.

Firstborn's eggplant and jalapenos have already contributed to the family cuisine. The Professor chopped the jalapeno into a mad concoction of tomatillo salsa this week; the dip received rave reviews from all the family--a true triumph, to be sure. The eggplant will be seasoned and tossed on the grill this weekend with some red peppers and green beans, perhaps alongside our favorite summer salmon recipe.

The children are so pleased to see the beautiful results of their garden and taste the delicious fruits of their labors. It has been a lovely first garden for the little apprentices.