The hope of growing things

Bit late in the spring, perhaps, but this weekend my daughter and I started seeds in seed trays — vegetables, flowers, a couple of herbs. Figure we’ll get them transplanted the first or second week of May (assuming they haven’t all died from wilt before that).

She said she wanted a garden of her own this year. I love growing things, even if I haven’t had a lot of success with vegetables here in Pennsylvania, so I’m happy to accommodate her wishes. I even have time to prep space to transplant to.

Not raised beds, not this year. However, I believe I still have time to give hay bale gardening a shot — basically, you prep planting spots on the bales with fertilizer, allowing some time for the hay to break down and make a better planting medium. At the end of the growing season, what remains of the bale is compost, usable to prep beds for winter and next year.

That’s the theory, anyway. We’ll see how it works in practice.

The next step, of course, is to get the hay bales.

So today I’m grateful for time with my daughter, shared interests, and the thought of fresh vegetables and flowers to come. What are you grateful for this week?

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.