I messed up yesterday and planted our seeds in the wrong spots. I'm wondering if I should just wait for the young seedlings to sprout and then start over, or try and dig up the seeds. If I leave the vertical frame where we have it, when the melon vines are big and high, they will shade the rest of the garden. I had DH dig new trenches for which we will build new vertical frames. Today we will most likely just plant new melon seeds in the trenches.
I'm realizing that even though we really liked the idea of Square Foot Gardening, we couldn't come up with 16, let alone 9 different crops we'd actually eat that would grow nicely in the garden box. Most of our produce choices grow best on vines or trees. To my children's horror, I ended up dropping in flower seeds to fill in our SFG.
Although I had once envisioned a yard full of SFG boxes, I think we're going to end up with lots of vertical frames instead. Our garden is after all, ours. It should serve our tastes, our goals, our choices. I couldn't help but see the unschooling in that.
Yesterday, deciding we needed even more fresh air, we chose to ride our bikes to the library and check out Ice Age Trail maps. After realizing our bike tire pump had broken, we had to walk half of the 3 mile journey until we could fill up at the gas station. It wasn't until after my tires were properly inflated that I realized my back tire frame is bent. We had so wanted to invest in a bike for DH, and a bike rack so we could explore the 1000 mile Ice Age trail. Now we may need two new bikes and a bike rack. I hope this dream isn't slipping away.
After reviewing the dated maps, and realizing our bicycle set backs, I think we'll make our first goal to hike the portion of the trail that goes through our county first. Its about 18 miles, very doable by summer's end, if not sooner.
DS10 is a little stressed, thinking 1000 miles is an impossible goal, but I'm reminding him its a lifetime goal. We won't be walking 1000 miles this year. After our bike ride, he did say some encouraging words. He's admitted that our daily walks/rides are increasing our fitness levels. I just hope it will click that anything that seems stressful can be managable when you take small, consistent bites at it.
5 comments:
neat... would love to hike like that
Check Craigs List for bikes - or the newspaper. Send out a positive vibe and it might be picked up - those two new bikes and a rack will come your way! Positive energy can work wonders!
You are right to do the gardening your way. No sense raising a bunch of veggies you will end up giving away. I'm sure that's what it's all about anyway - you get the knowledge and then change it to suit your own needs... innovation! Good luck!
We downsized from a truck to economy car. We really miss being able to throw the bikes in the back + go for trail rides. Try your local Freecycle group for bikes. Ours always has bikes posted. Have a great week!
Sounds like a great adventure for your family. It would make for an awsome notebooking project , both the Ice Age Trail and your Garden.
If you have a local homeschool group you could check with them about gently-used bikes. My husband just got a really nice Huffy 21-speed (mountain bike?) from the Salvation Army thrift store for $15.
It would be nice if you could get an up-to-date map and mark the parts as you walk them. I bet your son would be amazed at how quickly it starts to fill in. ; )
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