Pumpkins in June

I planted a small garden this year. I didn't want to one day leave the countryside without at least trying to have a garden. It was a fun thing to do with the kids. They liked poking the seeds into the dirt and most of all they enjoyed watering the seeds. I think they will enjoy seeing the seeds grow into plants. I planted basil, chives, garlic, lavender, and oregano in the herb garden section. A little farther down I planted watermelon and pumpkin at Evelyn's request.

We were at a birthday party this morning for a little girl who's family comes to church, but our whole playdate group was invited to the party too. Our playdate group has about 10 kids in it and they are all pretty much from farm families. I always feel a little out of place at the playdates since the topic of conversation never stays on "mom talk" (something I can participate in) and eventually ends up with talk about farming or hunting (something I don't know anything about... at all...). So when someone asked me at the party if I had a garden this year, I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk about something that we might just have in common besides kids. I told them about the different seeds I planted. When I said I had planted pumpkin seeds, one person laughed out loud and said, "You did?! You're going to have pumpkins in June!". (sigh) I know everyone around here has probably had a garden since they learned to walk and the notion of planting pumpkin seeds already probably just struck them as funny, no harm intended. But it still hurt. It's so hard to fit in with people with whom you have nothing in common...

So I'll have pumpkins in June. No problem at all! The purpose of having my little garden was to have the kids experience what it would be like to sow the seeds, watch them grow, and maybe reap the benefits. It really doesn't matter to Evelyn and Dominic when the pumpkins might be ready. We have no deadline to meet since we're growing our plants for leisure rather than trying to sell them at the Farmer's Market (which I think a lot of people out here do). Evelyn was just so excited to plant the pumpkin seeds. She is looking forward to the pumpkins the most. I can't wait to see her face when the tiny pumpkins begin to ripen on the vine. I'm sure it will be a Snapfish moment!

And we can always buy a pumpkin in October.