Slave Labor

This morning I took my slaves out to the garden and forced them to pick zucchini, cucumbers, squash, cherry tomatoes, and green beans.

Okay, it was just Josh and Spencer.  But after about 20 minutes Spencer was whining and crying and claiming that he was gonna die because it was soooo hot.

This fell on deaf ears.

"We aren't slaves!" he protested.

"You're right," I replied.  "You get an allowance.  And a house.  And food and clothes and computer games.  You are most definitely not slaves.  Now pick those beans."

He did not like this.  But he continued to pick.

It certainly would have been a lot quieter without the boys out there complaining.  And although I can't say it would have been faster, it wouldn't have taken that much longer without them - they're not very good a picking beans.  But I really felt like they needed to do something on a Saturday morning other than watch cartoons and play inside.  I was hoping they might actually learn to enjoy gardening.

As we were out there I tried to explain to them why we needed to learn about gardening, about self-sufficiency, and about how awesome and miraculous gardening is. 

"Do you remember how little the tomato plants were when we first got them?  Look how big they are now!  And remember the seeds that we planted?  Now they're HUGE sunflowers!  Isn't that cool?"

Josh thought it was cool.  Spencer did not. (He was still pouting over the slavery conversation.)

After 45 minutes of wedding, stalking plants, and picking, we ended with a few pictures.

I have to remind myself that I when I was a kid, I hated gardening, too.  And my dad would make me go out and pick beans and whatnot, and I felt picked on and whined and cried.  (It must be pointed out that one year he grew cotton, just to see if he could, and he made my brother and I go out and pick it.  Talk about slave labor...)

But I grew out of it.  And now I love gardening.  There's something very gratifying in being able to grow your own food.  It's a lot of work.  And I still have a lot to learn.  But it's totally worth it.

Hooray for fresh produce!

I'm proud of my marigold hedge.  It's cute.  I'm not so fond of the sunflowers, though.  They take up too much room. for a non-food plant.  (Because let's be honest - am I really gonna harvest the seeds?  No.  The answer is no.)  Next year?  Sweet corn instead of sunflowers, for sure.

Also next year?  My slaves will be out there helping me some more.  Whether they like it or not.