On Cucumbers and Bees

I am so glad that we decided to really have a vegetable garden this year. There is nothing like freshly picked vegetables everyday, and it also has turned out to be very educational for me and for the children. I am learning about things like cabbage worms and finding organic ways to kill them. My children are learning all sorts of things.

We impulse bought a cucumber plant in June. I thought that it would grow upward on the small trellis I put out for it. Instead it took over half of the raised garden. The great thing about the cucumber is that it attracts all the bees. Everyday it has lots of beautiful little yellow flowers (that is another great thing about vegetable gardens), and everyday the kids and I go out and watch the bees pollinate the flowers. We have learned that there are female and male cucumber flowers.

We spotted this little female flower one morning as a bee landed on a neighboring male flower. The bee flew directly to this flower, and the girls and I got swept away in the delight of the moment. I realized that gardening is just preparing a good place for plants to grow, tending to them, pulling up weeds, and then nature takes care of the rest.

And while the eating of the vegetables is good for us, the learning about God's creation and the way plants grow is even better. I am so thankful for the blessings of a stable home and a stable society in which we can enjoy growing delicious foods.