There’s nothing like digging in the dirt.

For weeks around our house the gardening hats and wooden bugs have been planted and re-planted on the living room floor. Her afternoon “gardening” sessions haven’t resulted in anything edible or sprouting, but one thing was clear - our daughter’s itch to get some soil between her toes had reached maximum.

Not an evening has passed that the words “Can we plant the garden tomorrow?” haven’t echoed a million times.

She’s got the bug…and I hated to reveal that her momma has a brown thumb.

Unwilling to squash her curiosity with my painful lack of skills, I recruited the master gardener - grandma - and gathered up two rather brown-thumbed pals for a lesson in gardening with three-year-olds.

We researched.

We shopped.

We planted.

We admired.

Now, all we have to see is if things actually grow.

This is the twice-monthly journal of three mommas and their preschoolers learning how their garden grows.

Welcome to Sprouts:

Day 1:

What the heck can you start inside this time of year?

That was the giant question for us. So, my mother-in-law pulled out an entire library of gardening literature and I went to work on the research end of the deal.

Staring at the pile of books on my counter, I wanted to cry.

Who has the time for all of this? I could spend a week reading all of this and never figure out what to plant, I thought.

The books sat and I headed off to the Courtenay Library. I’ve got the gardening comprehension level of a 5 year old. So, I went searching for that one kid-friendly simplified version of the encyclopedia gardenia.

After a few minutes combing the stacks we had our winner: Green Thumbs by Laurie Carlson. From how to make sprout containers out of egg and milk cartons (even a cool one just out of a sheet of paper), ideas for dolling up the garden with tags to decent instructions on how to actually start seeds inside or out, I had found my gardening companion guide that spoke in terms easy enough for ME to understand.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Laurie. You have saved my kiddo from a life without gardening.

Day 2:

Prep work: Shopping

In between chasing the tiny person between the garden store aisles and keeping her from touching every ceramic lawn ornament in the place, we did complete the list:

- Starter Mix (easier than trying to make a soil combination yourself)
- Veggie Seeds including lettuce, butternut squash, zucchini, peas and radishes
- Herb Seeds including rosemary, sweet basil, oregano, cilantro and chives
- Marigold seeds for some flowery fun
- a few extra peat pots
- gardening trays

The bill was $30, give or take a few bucks. Not bad really.

Note: the seeds we chose are ones that will be able to take a light frost as it is still a bit early to start hot-weather veggies like peppers and tomatoes. The rule is that most veggies need to be transplanted when they have three buds, usually six weeks.

Prep work: Tags, containers and cute stuff

The tiny person and I spent a couple of hours making labels for our veggies.

Supplies:
- Popsicle sticks
- Squares of coloured paper
- Markers
- Glue

I also prepped the planting gear:

- Cut the tops off of the paper egg cartons
- Made a whack of seed containers out of sheets of paper.

And made garden signs:

Supplies:
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Glitter Glue
- Beads
- Pipe cleaners
- Hole punch

I was officially exhausted after all of this, and the kiddos hadn’t even come over to plant yet.

Ah, good times.

The Planting:

It was cold yesterday. So, grandma set us up a worktable at her place (plastic on the ground, two work saws, a piece of wood for the table and a plastic table cloth). This also works great at the kitchen table. But, be prepared for a mess. It is just plain messy.

Then, the kiddos were off.

They filled their containers, planted seeds and were consumed with the coolness of burying their hands in the dirt for nearly an hour before chaos returned and we had to head outside.

It was AMAZING to see how content and into the whole garden universe that crew was. Absolutely one of those moments when you realize the value of your own exhaustion.

Their trays of veggies, herbs and flowers now live in their respective homes - ours in a special pre-sprouting shady locale on the dining room table where it can be checked on at any time - with curious eyes waiting, waiting, waiting…

…for things to Sprout.