After winter creeped away and spring set in, I cleaned out our raised veggie beds and started to think about what to plant in the next few months. A few weeks after cleaning the beds out and going to Lowes to pick out new veggie plants with Matt and Lily, we brought everything down to the beds to get started. I saw a teeny tiny sprout of something from last year...but I didn't know what it was. I scooped it out and just couldn't throw it into the woods behind our garden. Something about that little plant's seed being down in the soil all winter in the cold, and then sprouting all of a sudden made me want to save it. Lily dug a hole under the stairs of our deck and we stuck it in the hole and watered it. Lily wanted to know what kind of veggie would come out and I told her I didn't know...so we began calling it "The Mystery Plant". Each day after school Lily would ask to go see the mystery plant and we would walk down to check it out. And to use her exact words, "it grew and it grew and it grew until a flower came out!" She was so excited when she saw the yellow orange bloom spread its petals reaching for more sunlight. She continued to ask me "What is it Mommy?" and I still didn't really know. I figured it was either a pumpkin, squash, or zuchinni. Lily called my mom to tell her all about it...all of the time! She loved descibing it to her Mimi and I loved hearing her talk about nurturing this plant and the excitement in her voice when she told Mimi that it was a mystery plant.
One day Lily and I took Zeke out into our backyard for some sunshine and Lily yelled "OH MY GOODNESS!!! THE MYSTERY PLANT ISN'T A MYSTERY ANYMORE!!!!" And there it was...a yellow squash laying on the ground that was about 3 inches long. She was so excited. I love the innocence of childhood and being with my daughter as she discovers things around her. Something so simple to me, is amazing to her. I've got to remember that in the rush of life, especially when school starts back. We get so busy that sometimes we do not take the time to smell the roses...or in this case, take the time to watch the mystery plant!
One day Lily and I took Zeke out into our backyard for some sunshine and Lily yelled "OH MY GOODNESS!!! THE MYSTERY PLANT ISN'T A MYSTERY ANYMORE!!!!" And there it was...a yellow squash laying on the ground that was about 3 inches long. She was so excited. I love the innocence of childhood and being with my daughter as she discovers things around her. Something so simple to me, is amazing to her. I've got to remember that in the rush of life, especially when school starts back. We get so busy that sometimes we do not take the time to smell the roses...or in this case, take the time to watch the mystery plant!
