We were kind of overwhelmed by all the activities going on at the end of the school year. The kids had last-minute field trips and parties and tests and exams and that kind of thing; there were also projects and essays and reports and art that had to be completed. And the inevitable music programs, concerts, etc. This time of year is always a bit of a blur.
And then the last day of school came along, and there was absolutely nothing going on. I mean, nothing going on insofar as academics are concerned. There were parties and farewells and movies and more parties, but once the exams are over, what's the point of going to school?
James had a half-day of school and went off with his girlfriend to the the lakeshore. And he actually remembered to use sunscreen, so we didn't get a chance to make fun of his lobster-colored skin. Because he didn't get any. What fun is that?
Deb and Mary went to see Kung Fu Panda II and went bowling and went swimming, all under the guise of a school field trip. What kind of school field trip is that? Where's the educational content? Where's the test to ensure that they come away with some kind of advance in their knowledge base?
And Adam - ! He invited a group of friends over to play games. Not fun games, like cards and dominoes and chess and checkers. No, they played Portal and Civilization and other bizarre computer video games. And watched weird YouTube vidoes. And ate tons of snacks. And drank tons of soda. And, oddly enough, they seemed to enjoy themselves! They were laughing like hyenas down there.
[It must be noted that they also went outside and played Frisbee, which is a normal kind of game, but they did it when the grass was very wet and it looked like it might rain, so that sort of counts like weirdness, so it really fit in with the day.]
We had teased the kids about starting their summer schedule on Saturday instead of Monday, knowing that it really wasn't practical because Adam had to go to the high school at eight in the morning to take the ACT, but Mary was all gung-ho about it, so I got up early with her and we went on our walk around the neighborhood, then took Adam to school, then dropped by Krispy Kreme to use up some of our fundraising coupons (2 for 1) and got two boxes of donuts to celebrate the beginning of the 'summer vacation'.
The kids are still a bit uncertain about our plans to enforce the "early to bed, early to rise" schedule this summer, especially those who have a difficult time getting up in the morning. But Mary is all ready to go. Then again, she has not trouble getting up at six in the morning (or earlier). She obviously inherited some of Grandpa Meyer's genes!
We're really hoping to get the kids to become a little more self-sufficient this summer, teaching them a few things they might not otherwise learn. And part of the whole experience is limiting the amount of energy we use in the form of electricity. So we'll be putting everyone to bed promptly when the sun goes down, and getting everyone out of bed when the sun comes up. It's going to be very difficult, and we're going to get a lot or resistance in the beginning (from everyone but Mary), but we'll deal with it.
Another item on our Summer School Experience goals list is teaching the kids about gardening. We're starting small this year with a vegetable garden, with only a couple plants per child, but the kids are going to be responsible for taking care of them. And the goal is to harvest our vegetables in the fall.
I really, really, really didn't want to dig up the yard to put a garden in, though, so decided instead to build a raised garden. Only my idea of a raised garden doesn't quite the same as Cheryl's. She was thinking of 2x8 boards enclosing a garden which sits on the ground. My idea was 2x8 boards enclosing a box which sits above the ground.
We 'discussed' it at some length, but eventually we decided (ahem) that I could do things my way. This year. Next year's design will depend on this year's results.
I went to the hardware store and got the materials after doing a bit of yard work this morning, helping out with some weed-eating and trimming the spruce trees in the back yard whose branches were lying too low to the ground. Probably shouldn't have waited, but we'd gotten everyone involved (except Adam, who as you'll remember was taking the ACT) and it was simply too much fun being with the family, doing something all together. But eventually I got there and found all the things I needed: garden soil, pebbles, bark, 2x8s, 2x4 plywood, 4x4 posts, black plastic. Then went home and started putting it all together.
Built 2x4 boxes out of the plywood and 2x8s. Built the stands out of 4x4 posts and leftover 2x8 pieces for bracing. Lined it with black plastic. Dumped the pebbles in the bottom for drainage, then covered with 6 inches of garden soil.
There's really nothing like the feeling of running your hands through good soil. The soil came in bags which had been stacked, so it was very compacted and needed to be loosened up. After pouring it out into the boxes, I broke it up first with my hands - oh! the joy of black soil between the fingers! - but then switched to the little garden rake to help spread it out evently.
While I was working on the boxes, Cheryl took the kids to the gardening center to pick out their plants. They found some interesting ones: cucumbers (Deb's favorite), tomatoes, broccoli, watermelon, basil, and cilantro. Supposedly, each child gets two plants to raise, plus there are some extra ones in case something happens, like an attack of squirrels or birds or deer. We're hoping that these plants will start producing by mid-to-late August so we can have them all harvested before school starts again in September, but since it's our first time doing this, it'll be interesting to see what happens.
We were originally planning on putting the garden boxes on the hillside behind the garage, but after taking another look, it occurred to me that it wasn't quite the primes spot I had thought, mainly due to the fact that one of the spruce trees was standing between the spot I'd picked, and the sunlight. Not a big blocker, but enough that it would probably hamper the growth of the plants that need a lot of direct sunlight. This is also one of the chief reasons I wanted to put the garden up on posts, so that it could be moved relatively easily. For the purposes of having the kids transplant their vegetables into the garden boxes, and to capture some of the evening sunlight, we put the garden boxes on the back deck.
Cheryl used duct tape to mark off the 'zones' for each plant. Each box has eight 'zones', and each zone has only one plant in it, so we can hold up to sixteen plants - up to four for each child. That should cover us in case of natural disaster. We hope. Meanwhile, the kids will learn about each type of plant they chose, and how best to take care of it.
It's starting to be an interesting summer already.
1 comment:
looking good.
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