Employee of the Month

This is a little bit of a brag post but it also gives you a little insight into how we are running our business.

The employee of the month is a little man named Lucas.  He will be 4 years old later this month.  Luckily for us, he is happily paid in ice cream and other sweets.

While some may chuckle at the thought of my little 3 year old helping me in the garden, here is a list of his accomplishments this spring:

• He personally planted OVER half of the potatoes, corn and onions you will be enjoying this summer from the Hazelton gardens.  He placed the seed in the ground and covered them up.  The rows aren't perfectly straight but the spacing is as good as mine.
• He gently set every pepper plant in the ground (complete with backhoe and loader sounds) and then let me finish planting.
• He cried when his shovel from last summer broke.  Toddler garden tools just aren't built to withstand his level of labor.  My husband is currently hiding Lucas' rake that he ran over in his pickup until a replacement can be found!
• He was very proud when he finally figured out how to pull plants from their pots without crushing them.
• He recognizes the difference between vegetables, flowers and weeds.  He happily will tell me where I have a mess of weeds and where I should be working.  The great thing is he will work right beside me pulling and hoeing weeds.  I always have a little buddy.
• He scratches in the dirt to check for seed, complains about bad plant stands and gives regular reports on the status. 

Gardening isn't a clean job and Lucas makes it messier.  It can be frustrating slowing down so he can keep up.  For me, I cringe at the crooked rows and roughly handled little plants (plants are tough!).  But he is so proud of "his" corn and beets.  He runs to find his gloves, work boots and shovel when it is time to go outside.  While he spends a lot of time driving his tractors and dump trucks in the dirt pile, I always eventually see the little shadow who comes to see what I am doing and give me his helpful pointers.  

We are so blessed that we can share our love of gardening with our children.  We won't make a million bucks in the business world by letting 3 year olds putter around in our gardens but we will make it big in the hearts of the 2 little boys and 1 little girl who grace our lives.