Congrats on the new gbaby!

...I just got my squash seeds in the ground last week and I bet my tomatoes are smaller than yours! :)

I just got half.my tomatoes in the ground 2 days ago, but at the same time I'm trying to remove Bermuda grass and Dallis grass out of a larger bed so I can cover with cardboard and mulch and do cut edges around it. At least the rain we've had makes it somewhat easier. But, congrats on getting your tomatoes in! I hope I can baby them through the heat of the summer.

OMG......I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU! GCs are the best thing EVER!! My eldest is 11 and will turn12 in Oct. The baby will be 3 on the 9th of June. They are both the loves of my life. Kenna has grown up gardening, too, and has raised lots of butterflies. She put in her first garden of herbs and flowers this year and is raising her first black Swallowtail butterfly on her own. She's so proud of her little garden!

So congrats, congrats, congrats, Paula, on your new wee one to come. Do you go by Nanny, granny, grandma?????

Susan

Hey Earth Sister,

Congratulations on the new grandbaby news! I am just thrilled to pieces for you, Ken and everyone in the family. How exciting is this? You know, I think this is especially happy news because there has been so much sad news from central OK recently. We needed some happy news and you just supplied it! Woo hoo!!!!!

Your grandchildren are so adorable, but yep, they are at that tween (and soon teen) age where the garden may become less attractive as they so often start choosing to hang out with their friends every chance they get. That's okay, soon you'll have a new little sprout to raise in the garden, so you'll have free child labor in the garden for another 10 or 15 years. Our son went through that age where he no longer wanted to be out in the garden with me, but then he grew up and he appreciates the garden again. Luckily (for all of us) the teen years do not last forever, and a 'child' who grew up with a gardening family doesn't loose their appreciation of the garden because it is deeply ingrained in them before they become teenagers....they just sort of have "better stuff" to do for a few years. We remember that---we all were teenagers once ourselves.

Congrats, too, on getting your garden in. So what if it is late? In this state you can plant on time, or even early, and then have it all demolished by severe weather, so late is fine. You may be harvesting later than usual, but you'll still be harvesting.

Most of my garden has been planted for some time for the most part, but I still am tucking herbs and flowers into little corners here and there, and succession planting southern peas and bush beans in to places where cool-season crops are finishing up and coming out. In that sense, I never finish planting because each time something comes out of the garden, a succession planting goes in. Your beans aren't much later than mine, anyhow, because I just put them in about two weeks ago. They are late this year, but I had to wait for all those cold nights to pass and then I waited another week to make sure another late cold spell didn't sneak back in and get us.

You know, in any other year, you would have had everything planted and your hailstorm would have gotten it and we know this seems to happen to someone's garden every year, so this was a good year to be planting late. It all worked out and I bet you still get a great harvest.

Once you are no longer sworn to secrecy and can admit that you told us about the new grandchild, please tell your daughter congratulations from us.

Dawn

Congratulations Paula! (on both things!) I'm still struggling to get a number of things planted. Moving the main garden 16' over, caused a huge increase in work this year. But I did a lot yesterday.

We don't yet have grandkids, and do look forward to it, if the Lord wills. But I would like to offer some hope to some out there, whose children may not have shown interest in gardening. Our oldest is now 28 and a veterinary doctor in Seattle. As a boy, he showed just a little interest in gardening, not much. By high school he showed no interest at all. All through college, the same. But now, just in the last six months, he has started gardening with his wife. He has also picked up a number of interests which we thought would probably never develop. So, you never know.

If we give the kids a happy memory, in a given area of interest, they are much more likely to return to that in latter life.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Congratulations Paula!! It is a wonderful experience to have help in the garden. My 11 year old granddaughter is with me this week, picking and putting up strawberries, peas and broccoli. Her older sister turned 18 a couple weeks ago and has had a job for almost a year, so doesn't come to spend week-long stays at Nana and Papa's any more. We miss her.

And you're not too late with the garden. This has been the latest year I can remember for several years--following the earliest year in memory last year. Now if we can just get some summer rain to keep it all going.

Paula- Don't feel bad, I just finished planting this weekend too! So we will enjoy some late veggies! Congrats on another grandbaby!