One of my biggest disappointments was our potato patch. By early December, I already knew things were not going so well. It was clear that these poor plants were not getting anything like the amount of sunlight they needed - they were long and lanky, flowers few and far between, and over-run with insects.
A few weeks later, we decided to cut our losses. We prepared to pull out the plants and rummage through the soil.
A surprise was to come. As I expected, our yield was poor. What I didn't expect was the absolute joy I shared with our daughter as she found each "tiny tasty tater" (some of them barely 1 cm in diameter), and the excitement when we found a "colossal" potato (in other words, a potato approaching baby potato size).
As we worked together, up to our armpits in dirt, I felt incredibly lucky. This girl is so good at celebrating the little things, and being happy with what we've got.
While growing a garden hasn't quite been the success I'd hoped for, we are growing a pretty wonderful girl.
* A disclaimer - while my description of our wonderful curly-haired girl is accurate (in a biased mother kind of way), she is a real kid with real challenges too ...
