Our Garden Apprentice Turns Seven

Sometimes a cup of tea in the garden is nice.

My niece, Keleigh, loves to help Uncle Matt and me in the garden.  Its something I think we all look forward to each time she comes to visit.  A few trips back Matt told her he had some work they could do in the garden the following day.  It was pretty much the first thing she asked about the next morning upon waking.  We hadn't even gotten out of our pajamas or had breakfast yet!

She likes to be in charge of making it "rain."

I love her smiling face.

And now that she is getting a little bigger--she just turned seven yesterday--she is getting to truly be a good help in the garden.  We're not just humoring her because she thinks it fun and we think she is cute.  She thinks its fun AND she really is quite helpful, too.  Its great.

She can transplant seedlings like nobody's business.  She can dig holes and plant seeds.  Matt breaks off a twig for her to use so she knows how far apart to plant the seeds.  She can give the newly planted seeds a good drink so they grow well.  And she does it all with a smile.  Sometimes an almost maniacal smile.  Sometimes Matt says "Okay, and now we're going go over here and..." and she literally runs to the next task.  Its a great thing to share, the three of us.  I adore watching her learn.

When she came for the wedding Matt made a point of showing her how big the cauliflowers she'd planted when she'd been at our place for Easter (all these photos are from April).  They'd grown considerably and she seemed impressed, particularly with the purple ones.  I must admit that I am more impressed with the purple cauliflower, too.

She is a good little garden apprentice.  Kitchen helper, too, for that matter.   That's my girl!

Shredding potatoes for well-earned hash browns with breakfast.