suburban gardening

I'm going to pick up tomato plants this afternoon. It's my plan to put them in containers on the deck. There's nothing more wonderful than being able to pick a homegrown tomato for dinner. The kids love helping care for them and I love seeing them counting the cherry tomatoes as they multiply each day. I had hoped to get the plants out a month ago, but maybe I can make up time and still have fresh veggies by July. I'm going to get some sunflower seeds too. Simple summer fun.

I've been reading a book called "A Child's Garden: Enchanting Outdoor Spaces for Children and Parents". It's full of ideas to help create little havens within a yard for your family. The pictures are gorgeous and the projects look like so much fun. I'm not quite ready to tackle a yard renovation, but it does make you think. In the introduction to the book the author goes through the history of outdoor play and its environments. I found this quote very interesting:

DISAPPEARING OUTDOOR AFTERNOONS
Long hours of unstructured outdoor exploration are a fast-vanishing aspect of contemporary childhood. Fearing for our children's safety in a more dangerous world than we parents grew up in and frenetically busy with our own lives, many of us today are unwittingly cutting off children from seminal life experiences available only during lazy outdoor afternoons. We promote the idea that the important business of real life happens only in offices and classrooms -- not in yards, fields, and forests. And in answer to children's inevitable curiosities about nature we offer them books, television shows, and computer learning programs instead of taking them outside to touch, feel, and smell the real thing. -- Molly Dannenmaier

Note: I checked the book out from the local library. As I went to search for a link to the book I realized that it is a very popular book on the used book circuit...most prices going for over $100. My advice to you, check it out of the library. ;-)