Tuesday 7 December 2010

Lara's theme

Most of you will know by now that I am enjoying the prospect of passing on my enthusiasm for gardening to my grandaughter Lara.  This is of course not to say that we are skipping a generation, because both of our daughters, Emma and  Fiona, are in their own way already gardening enthusiasts. It's just that I consider that in their case the job is already done, whereas with Lara maybe the opportunity is mostly still to come. When Lara visits us, she is always keen to go out in the garden and see what is new. I think she already associates our garden with nice edible treats, such as tomatoes, raspberries and blueberries. Earlier this year she discovered the delights of home-grown new potatoes. This coming year it will probably be carrots and peas; maybe runner beans.

Lara is always keen to participate in whatever is going on -- especially in the garden. Have a look at the following sequence of photos and see if you can spot the theme...





Yes, it's the presence of the watering-can. Lara loves watering, even when it's totally unnecessary! And she now insists on using the biggest watering-can available, which she can barely lift; not the little baby one - that would be far too easy. I think I already know who will come round and do the digging for me when I am in my dotage...

Lara is also learning from her parents about cooking and food preparation. At their request, we will be buying her some small but "real" cooking equipment as part of her Christmas present, so that she can join in with the grown-ups.  We have ordered some of the things from a great online shopping source we have recently discovered -- http://www.barnitts.co.uk/. All you grandparents out there, I think you need to check this out!

8 comments:

  1. Barnitts is fantastic, I had no idea they were online. The actual shop in York is nothing short of a marvel.

    I got engaged (and married) in York, and after we chose the ring we went to Barnitts as I wanted my husband(-to-be) to buy me a new corkscrew. There was an entire wall of them, and it took me longer to choose that than it did to choose a ring!

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  2. She's so sweet!!! It is nice to see that Lara enjoy those moment with you and learning what grow up do.

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  3. How adorable! She reminds me of the days when my daughter was a baby.
    I believe Lara is very happy to spend times in participating in your gardening.

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  4. Very sweet, our two girls are the same they love watering and have their own little cans, I just need to teach them how to fill them up so I can get on with some jobs whilst they water anything and everything. I always grow as many ready to pick and eat there and then varieties which is were the soft fruit comes into its own. I barely saw the strawberries and raspberries this year as the girls just picked them themselves. That's the main reason I grow my own, very satisfying!

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  5. Hi Everyone; So nice of you to comment about Lara -- she's real cutie isn't she? I don't think Emma & Dave will have any worries about getting her to eat her 5-a-Day!

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  6. Mark, please thank your broccoli for sympathizing with my broccoli. I got a laugh out of that! It is great you are teaching Lara about gardening and it will go with her throughout life. My own daughter was thrilled when she first saw that potatoes were a root crop at her grandparents' garden, and it might have been the turning point that made her into a true gardener!

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  7. She is such a pretty child. My grandson would love playing with her. I am sure he would think the watering can is the perfect thing too. He has a thing about bright orange and yellows.

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  8. Teach those grandbabies all about vegetable gardening! They'll appreciate it in later years!

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