Our neglected garden patch was hiding one monster beet:  
    He was planted last fall! 
    A lot can happen when you ignore a garden because of pregnancy nausea and then a broken ankle…

Jacob and I have been working on it. We found him a child-sized pair of gardening gloves and he was SO EXCITED. They are atill too big for him, but we were able to get his fingers in the right holes at least. His very important jobs were scooping snails and rocks out of the planter. He chattered away the entire time and was generally adorable and smart. He asked me questions about plants and worms and compost. Speaking of compost: our neglected compost has been cooking away and it looks great! There are some larger pieces that haven’t broken down (you can see some paper towel bits and eggshells) but overall it is black and loamy and the consistency of coffee grounds. The worms have been busy: it seems there are as many worms as there is compost! We carried some scoops of this “black gold” Into the planter to mix with new garden soil and get ready for planting! Aside from worms, it is full of earwigs (rolly-Polly bugs) and I also saw a black widow spider. I’m glad I had gloves on! As much as I appreciate worms, I can’t imagine grabbing a handful of them with my bare hands (shudder)! Jacob and I have been starting seeds inside in our plastic baggies, and this will be an exciting year for the garden I think! He runs to the kitchen to check them each morning. I have written what each seed is on its bag, and he will go through each one, asking me to tell him what it is, and excitedly yelling out how it is doing. “Broccoli has leaves, mama! LEAVES! I’m glad because broccoli is yummy in my tummy tummy.” What a cutie!