Exuberance

Jonathan Hammond built two raised beds of 2" x 8" lumber. He put a wire screen and cloth barrier at the bottom of each bed. He made a combination of top soil from Oak Ridge Shrubbery, peat moss, vermiculite, and composted leaves from his yard for the soil. He talked to Jacob about what to plant. Then he called on me to come over to help them get started.


It wasn't just Jacob that was excited about getting going with this project. His brothers Isaac and Samuel were equally exuberant. There was enthusiasm at every step, from filling the bed with the soil to discussing what to plant where, to planting. I brought the cardboard planting templates I had created earlier. (I made 4, 9, and 16 hole templates from pizza box lids. I've since replaced these with templates made from Masonite.)

They planted onion sets, radish seeds, a cabbage plant, a broccoli plant, carrot seeds (Nantes, which won't grow too deep), spinach seeds, and beet seeds. We planted the first raised bed, leaving the second bed for a later expedition. Jonathan was good about getting them all involved and letting each take a turn.

All in all, it was refreshing to see such young people have such enthusiasm for gardening!