welcome back Anchita, I remember you! Congratulations on both babies and I love to see kiddos involved in gardening. I think it rounds their view of the world around us. My grandson likes to 'help' too, but if I'm not careful he pinches too much back (like handfuls of the plants). Watering is a better task, I think âº

Pam

Sounds as if you have a wonderful, if small, garden going. Congratulations, I know you will enjoy it.

Anchita,
Welcome! I have been here only two years, so we need to introduce ourselves. Your child is so lucky to have a mama that gardens, and your little boy will be a "dirt digger" too, I'm sure. For someone who says she has a "very modest garden", you sure have a good variety of well-chosen plants!
My husband and I live on a small farm in Central Texas. He is a city boy, I was raised in town in a farming community, and we both have taken to farming with delight, if not too many smarts! We have flower beds, two vegetable gardens, an asparagus patch, two bee hives and a small flock of hens. Please come visit our Red Gate Farm at www.rgf-tx.com and since we aren't selling anything, don't be afraid! Our free e-mail newsletter has gardening tips, photos, nature activities for families, recipes and an herb of the month. Your e-mail address will be kept confidential if you sign up for the newsletter.
Welcome back to the Texas gardening forum, and I'm glad to meet y'all!

Anchita ~ welcome back. I joined last fall. We live in the D/FW Mid-Cities. We have front and back yards with almost entirely full sun & two narrow side yards with almost entirely full shade. We're also new converts to native and organic gardening. We have a 13yo who thinks gardening is very uncool and reluctantly helps me with the heavy work & two disabled 10yo's who love the outdoors and fresh air during the spring and fall.

Marlin ~ that's the first time I've heard of your farm's website - it's pretty cool.

~ freshair

Freshair,
Drop in frequently. We'll be changing photos, adding and updating information and welcoming anyone and everyone to Red Gate Farm!

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!

Pam, I agree, allowing toddlers to handle the plants themselves can be a bit dangerous (for the plants!) I mostly let mine play with the soil and water, and if she wants to help handle the plants, I keep a close eye on her and have to say "gently" about a million times :-)

Carrie, thank you! Hopefully I'll be able to keep these alive through the summer... Now that I've started gardening actively again, I truly realize how much I had been missing it.

Freshair, I can imagine that an older child/teen might not think gardening is the coolest thing. My mom loved to garden, but at that age, even though I enjoyed our garden very much, I hardly showed any interest in the process itself. Hopefully though, the seeds you've planted in your kids will sprout when they're older and give them much pleasure and appreciation of nature.

Marlingarderner, that's a fabulous farm and website you have there! I wish we could visit in person (if you allow that, that is.) It is a secret dream of mine to have a small farm and garden of our own someday... My husband's uncle is a farmer (or rather a farm overseer of sorts) and I love to visit there whenever we get a chance. I loved your sections on vegetables and flowers.. those are the only ones I have been able to read so far. Very informative along with being enjoyable. I've bookmarked it and need to peruse the recipe section. It is a pity I can't grow any vegetables here though, because I don't know of any full-shade vegetables, and the apartment management people won't allow us to have veggies out in the public areas (only things that look "pretty" :insert eyeroll here:) I wasn't able to sign up for the newsletter though. Clicking it opened an Outlook window for me, and I don't use Outlook.. Shall I e-mail you on that address from my e-mail address that I use and request to subscribe?

Anchita,
Yes, please do e-mail us. We are putting together the July newsletter now, but as soon as we get your e-mail address, we'll send you the June issue.
There are few things "prettier" than mixed lettuces in a container. What the apt. management don't know won't hurt them and will feed you!