Jagger’s school celebrated Earth Day this year by inviting parents to plant annuals with the kids. I helped his Pre-K class put marigolds, begonias, petunias, and vincas into little clay pots that they painted.

I was so proud of Jagger — obviously — for the way he gently but confidently pulled a baby marigold plant out of its plastic container, lowered it into his pot, and reached right into the bin of soil to grab a handful to top off the transplant. The other kids expressed varying degrees of being “into it,” but it was clear that Jagger had been hands-on with botany before. His orange-and-yellow marigold is happily blooming on our kitchen windowsill, where we try to remember to water it every few days.

Heading into our third summer growing season in our garden, I see so many markers in Jagger’s progression that you’ve read about here — from being able to grip the tiny seeds in his little fingers to bravely picking up creepy crawly things in the dirt.

In 2021, he was 3 and just potty trained when we started gardening; I remember asking “Do you have to go? You sure?” so many times that summer. Last year, at 4, he would announce “I need to go pee!” which signaled we had about 30 seconds to get to a toilet. The other day, I was putting the hose away after we had finished watering some plants, and I turned to see 5-year-old Jagger … watering … the garden fence on his own.

“It makes the deer know this is my territory,” he said to me over his shoulder. Can’t argue with that.

I wish I could say his love of different foods has grown like his bathroom abilities, but his preferred menu revolves around buttered noodles and mozzarella sticks and vanilla ice cream. At his pediatrician’s advice, we’ve recently tried gamifying it a bit by having Jags pick a new food of the week that he wants to try. So far we’ve had some big hits (loves cucumber with peanut butter and is back on chicken after a long hiatus) and some misses (salami — his choice! — “smells like poop,” he said). I’m hoping again that the grow-your-own aspect of gardening helps encourage him to try some different things this summer.

So far we’ve planted hot peppers, sweet peppers, thyme, rosemary, and basil, as well as some okra seeds, kale seeds, and spinach seeds. It’s still dipping into the low 40s at night, so we’re waiting until the weather warms just a bit before getting into tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and we’ll-see-what-else. And, in addition to Jagger’s surprise scenting, we’re using lots of Liquid Fence around the perimeter to keep deer away.

Any special requests, for plantings or recipes? Let me know!

Thank you for reading — until next time.