We finally had a break from the rain, so the kids and I took a good look at our Square Foot Garden to see what was ready to pick. The marigolds are finally coming in. We planted those in the corners to help control bugs, but they haven’t been helpful yet since they’re taking so long! The cherry tomato plants that we started indoors have really taken off as well, but the transplanted cucumbers didn’t make it.
There are my babies, my little lettuce plants. They look great, and we’re waiting for them to get a little larger so we can start picking the leaves off the edges.
The radishes were the only veggies that looked ready to pick, and even half of those looked too small. We chose the tallest ones and PULLed. The kids were so proud, and they couldn’t wait to try them.
We headed back inside to clean the radishes. I used this as an opportunity for scientific thinking:
- We identified the parts of the plant. Which part grew above ground, which part under? What do the roots do for the plant?
- We compared the radishes–why do you think some are larger than others?
- We used magnifying glasses to observe that largest radish (they’re pointing to it), and we found teeth marks or scratches. We hypothesized that a chipmunk or squirrel made the marks.
And then we tasted them. At first, they were crispy and mild, and we all agreed we liked them, but then they turned bitter and spicy, and we were all grabbing for water to drink. We laughed and laughed, and the kids couldn’t wait to make Daddy try them too. He didn’t think they were spicy at all.
