Digging some dirt

I had lots of help this year digging up my garden to get ready for planting. Ava enjoyed digging up dirt with a shovel and dumping it into a bucket until she discovered how much more fun it was to use her hands. I agree! This Iowa dirt is amazing. Dark, rich, full of worms, and has a smell that must bring out our historical beginnings somewhere in our brains. It just makes me want to work hard and feel pride in my "crop" (I put that in quotations because my mini garden, that tends to fade away before I even reap its benefits, is no where near a crop).

My 80 year old neighbor, Gail, must have been keeping a watchful eye on us, and got sick of watching us take our sweet time. He came out and helped me pull up a ton of weeds and trees that were near impossible to dig out. So yes, that's right, an 80 year old showed me up in my own garden. Now I owe him a homemade cherry pie once all our cherries ripen up...and good lord, that tree is FULL of cherries this year.

I have big hopes for my garden this year since Ava is old enough to help and play on her own (this helps to get some stuff done without interruption). The lettuce is in, the eggplant is in, and the strawberries are blooming (well, what's left of them). Summer is right around the corner, I can smell it.

*Ava was quit interested in those worms*