Gardening experience with Nathan

Last week on one of my SAHM days, I decided to take advantage of the free school holiday activities at the nearby shopping centre.

The highlight for that week was a Dirt Girl World gardening activity – each child got to decorate their own pot and plant a little seedling to take home.

As a general rule I do not like gardening. But I thought it was a good opportunity for Nathan to explore the wonderful world of dirt and soil without me having to worry about cleaning up the mess afterward.

Here are some photos I snapped at the activity…

This is little oregano seedling I chose for him to plant

He helped to scoop the soil with a trowel and gently pat down the little seedling the assistant placed in the container

Nathan getting engrossed in marker colour choices

 

Once we arrived home, we transferred the seedling into our garden
(as advised by the assistants at the activity corner)

The transplanting of the seedling to our garden was not part of my original plan. But I did want to give the baby oregano a chance instead of just dumping it aside. Nathan wanted to “help” so things got a little messy there, but I bore with it for his sake and the little seedling’s.

I even put my (*gasp*) bare hands into the earth to position the seedling and pat the soil around it properly. The soil felt cool and crumbly in my hands – the texture was not too different from brown sugar and flour. If I could rub butter in flour, I could handle this. For a brief moment, I had a glimpse of the thrill those gardening advocates feel fingering the cool earth around their flowers, shrubs and trees. But it was just for a moment, I don’t think I’ll be adding gardening to my list of hobbies just now.

All in all, it was a great first time gardening experience for Nathan, with a bonus addition to our little herb plot.