first harvest from the container garden
July 7th, 2009
The day that Jill & Kevin were here we noticed our first cucumber was ready. Technically that wasn’t the first thing we’d picked from the garden since I’d been using the herbs since day one, but it was our first vegetable. (Or are cucumbers fruit, since they grow on vines like melons and pumpkins? Yes, Wikipedia says they’re technically fruit, though they’re usually considered, prepared and eaten as vegetables.)
After we’d waved our friends on their way, I asked Annalie if she wanted to eat the cucumber for a snack. She thought that was a great idea, and asked, “Can I peel it all by myself?”
Well, sure, why not? She spent a looong time making sure she got all the dark green skin scraped away. Then she asked, “Can I cut it myself, mom? I’ll be careful!” I thought about it for a few seconds. Annalie had been doing more in the kitchen recently, stirring things on the hot stove with supervision, and she’s been helping Troy make pancakes on the griddle for a while now. I figured, she’s gotta start using a sharpish knife sometime, and a cucumber’s probably a good thing to start on.
Annalie was very careful with the knife. I had to remind her several times to keep her fingers tucked under so she didn’t accidentally cut herself.
As she was slicing she chattered excitedly about how she was going to surprise Daddy with the cucumbers, and wasn’t he going to be proud of her for peeling and cutting the cucumber all by herself?
She was pretty proud of herself, for that matter.
Annalie arranged the slices on the plate she’d just painted for Troy for Father’s Day and sprinkled them with salt, which is our preferred method of eating cucumbers.
Annalie excitedly called Troy into the kitchen and presented him with the plate full of cucumber slices. Troy did a good job of being surprised and amazed to hear that Annalie had prepared the cucumber all by herself. Then we enjoyed eating our first garden-fresh cucumber.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
I love how much you encourage Annalie and talk with her. You two are such great parents.
Good for her! You’re absolutely right, it is super important for her to gain more independence in the kitchen, provided she has the proper supervision. It’s the kids who’s parents always made them food and snacks that end up living off pizza in college!
she’s adorable and growing up so fast. (i know you probably didn’t want to hear that!) she is so precious i could just eat her up with a spoon.
enjoy your garden!
Yay for Annalie! I love the picture of her cutting with such care and the one where she is watching for Troy’s reaction. Priceless! She is such a love!!!
I think it’s great she’s getting to know her way around the kitchen! That cucumber looks delish too!
That was a pretty big cucumber too, so it’s a good one for her to learn with… easier to hang on to! I’m proud of her for doing that herself, she’s such a cutie.
Good job!!!
Did it taste better than one from the store?
I never know it is worth the extra effort.
I’m guessing the only way to make a home-grown cucumber even better is to mix it with a generous helping of personal accomplishment. Tasty!
That’s so awesome, I had to show Alan. I mean I showed him the other cucumber picture but now it’s off the vine and you guys ate it!
He’s very interested in getting our own garden going. He did an experiment with aquaponics but it’s not really working. And right before I showed him your post he was looking at videos on planter boxes. So yeah, very interested.
We have cucumbers in the garden, but they’re not ready yet.
I love that one of Annalie eating the cucumber :)
Love that last photo. She is so proud of herself. One hint I still do with my little girl is that I give her a plastic knife to cut with if I am not standing right near her. (Usually diaper changing.) They still get the job done, are lighter, and eases my overprotective mommy mind. This post makes me wish that our cucumbers were growing now. Craving!
I have to give you so much credit as a mother. You do such a wonderful job entertaining your daughter while making her a part of your every day routine. To top it off, she is captured beautifully in photographs. Something I wish I was better at doing.
I thought you should know, I totally admire you.
Congratulations Annalie! On your first cucumber and cutting it up for Daddy all by yourself :).
We are awaiting our first fruits from the garden too. But, like you I am using the herbs already.