Goodness it has been almost an entire year since we started this series! I have shared with you how we welcome fall, winter, and spring into our home, and today I get to share with you how we are welcoming summer.
In my very first post in this series I shared with you how I have learned that it is the tiny, small things that truly bring me joy. As we have progressed with our homeschooling I have found that I really embrace the changing seasons fully. We use the start of a new season as a wonderful way to shift our days so we don’t get caught up in the mundane. With the shift to summer, we embrace being outside so much more.
Happy summer! Today is officially our very first day, though thankfully we have had some beautiful summer weather over the last few weeks getting us off to a wonderful start.
I want to start off by talking about one of my favorite things to do in the summer… planting our vegetable garden! We love doing a great big garden each year. This year however, I am having some bad luck!
I always buy new seeds each year and generally only use about half of each package. Thinking ahead, I saved my seeds, kept them in the cool basement carefully all winter, and proudly produced them this spring. I planted them in the garden and we then had a spell of about 8 of the hottest and driest days you could imagine. Even with watering each morning and night, only the green bean seeds sprouted.
Not to be discouraged, I re-planted! We were calling for a good rainy week, perfect for little seedlings. I pulled out the last of the saved seeds and popped them in the garden. Well wouldn’t you know that a family of deer now frequent our garden. I didn’t even know they would do such a thing! But the tell tale signs (and lack of plants) assure me that they do.
So this means so far we have some green bean plants, a few zucchini, and some cucumber trying their best. And it means I will be re-planting yet again and perhaps fence building?!
My very best tips for gardening with little ones is to only do some of the gardening with them. If it is very important to you to have beautiful straight lines of veggies, do that part on your own. If you are worried about little plants getting trampled, work alongside your little one giving her your full attention, saving your hard-labour until you are on your own. My boys love being in the garden with me, but they also love running off to play with the chickens and their bikes giving me lots of time to do my own thing.
A huge realisation for me lately has been that I really like to be in control of things. I like crafts done in a certain order, chores done in a certain way, and my garden tended just so. This is all well and fine for me, but when my little ones are helping I am trying to be more mindful of letting them explore how they want to approach a task and supporting them as they learn what works for them and what doesn’t. Gardening is a wonderful opportunity for kids to learn so many things about nature, science, and themselves.
Another idea is to give children their very own piece of the garden to tend. This was something we had planned to do this year, but due to our gardening difficulty it never happened. I do love this idea though. My boys would plant and weed and water their own little patch of land! Since they are both very much entrepreneurs at the moment, plans were already in place for veggie sales too.
After all that hard work in the garden, I just love to have a campfire and relax. I just have to share a delicious summer recipe we plan on using tonight to help us truly welcome summer – campfire cones!
I found this yummy recipe for Campfire Cones over on Hip2Save and have had it pinned on my pinterest board for months. It seems like the perfect kickoff for summer to me. Fruits, marshmallows, and chocolate in a yummy sugar cone? What a treat! These are the things summer moments are made of.
Now that is one heck of a way to kick of the summer! I hope you found an idea or two that puts you in the summertime spirit friend.
Thank you so much for joining me here and reading today. I will write to you again very soon! Happy summer!
If you like reading about the changing seasons, you will love our Seasonal Living with Littles resource!
Seasonal Living with Littles
Seasonal Living with Littles guides you month-by-month through nature-inspired poems, sensory bins, solstice and equinox celebrations, and easy weekly crafts—all anchored by a seasonal nature table. Learn more here: https://shop.howweelearn.com/products/seasonal-living-with-littles
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