Starting Our Veggie Patch

Homeschooling has been my life for the past 5 years.  We were registered with a wonderful school and classified as Distance Education students with them.  As our life has changed, we found this system wasn't working for us.  We are still unsure whether this is just for a season or not but it is the right decision for now.  Now, as we homeschool independently, we have freed our schedule to work on activities that the children are really keen to do.  This blog is part of our education too. The kids will be posting on here and sharing their experience of our homeschool adventures.
Today we started our Veggie Patch.  We've talked about it for a while and have the plot for it but just haven't had the time to get around to it. So, today we trotted down the back to start work. It was overgrown with weeds, and really was a mess but we set to it. Unfortuntely the boys have grown out of their gumboots so they were constantly getting dirt and other garden materials lodged in their shoes. Jem and I had our gumboots on and got set to work.

We hoed and dug and cut and pulled and removed weeds and plants that were overgown and taking over the yard. It was pretty physical stuff, but heaps of fun.  We cleared our patch of earth and then we looked at the soil. 

 

Aaron and Benson were keen to start planting straight away but I was sure the soil was in no condition for plants to thrive. I explained about the need for nutrient rich soil and moisture for plants to do well. "Would you like me to hose the veggie patch, mum?" Aaron asked. "Yep, let's get some water on there and it will tell us more about the condition of the soil." So, we watered.

 Once we had watered for a while we noticed puddles forming on top of the soil. "I reckon that's enough water," said Aaron. The hose was turned off and we looked at the soil more closely. Hmmm, the water is just sitting on top of the soil, it isn't soaking in at all! The soil is dry underneath, only about 5mm down. "I wonder what will fix this?" I asked.

Aaron shot off like a rocket, up to the computer to investigate what was wrong with the soil and what we needed to do to make it a great place to grow vegetables. While he did this, Benson helped me get some trellis work installed and a mesh grid path laid so our boots didn't get too muddy over the next few days as we enriched the soil.

Aaron ran down just as we finished, "We need a worm farm! That will help our garden so much." "I guess that will be our next purchase then... That and some great compost," I replied. "What is great compost mum?" Benson asked. "Cow poo," said Aaron. "Cool"
So, our veggie patch has begun and plans are being made. Children are delighted about the prospect of worms and cow poo. The boys are investigating all kinds of remedies for our dry, water - resistant soil and loving it.  Learning at its best! Stage One of this Grand Adventure is complete.