My 2 y.o. and I spent some time this morning gardening together. No matter how little I feel like gardening, or how little I'm looking forward to the drudgery of winter gardening, just getting out there and doing it with a little helper puttering nearby is sweet. Bonus: It leaves me with an (undoubtedly illusory) feeling of accomplishment. Today, after I turned over a patch about 4'x4', she and I planted cilantro, beets, carrots, and "Salad Bowl" lettuce (the latter in ground as well as in a pot that I had just yanked basil from - call it an experiment). I enhanced the soil with some of my special Recycling Center compost; fingers crossed. I pulled out the basil (sniff; it was so good to me this year) and a Roma tomato. I showed the baby how to break up soil clumps with her little shovel, and she trotted after me when I took things out to the green waste. We picked a few golden cherries and took a break to munch them. And when we were done, she wiped her hands on her jeans and announced, "Our garden is beautiful!"
I had to agree.
Finally, some rain predicted for today! A bit fell this morning, just at the wrong time to get me all excited about rainboots and rainjackets for the walk to school, by which time it had stopped. We had to pause midway so my son could switch his boots for his shoes (in his backpack). More is in the forecast, which is awesome because as usual I am sick of watering. However, the tomatoes still have not gotten the memo that winter is almost here - my bush Roma, in particular, rocks on, albeit more slowly than in its prime. The cilantro is also looking good still - got to plan a meal around that! I see a few green tantalizers where we planted a variety of seeds a couple weeks ago so they will love the rain too. 
