There are green peppers growing in my front yard. Not in the garden, but in my front yard for everyone to see. The gardener isn’t Mommy and certainly not Daddy either. This grower is no other than my kindergartener and she is certainly doing a great job. Who knew she had a green thumb?
This plant was not the only one she planted, but it is the last surviving souvenir of a field trip. Back in the spring, her preschool class went to a farm market owned by a classmate’s parents. They did tractor rides, petted farm animals, played on the huge playground and planted two plants that they were allowed to take home. To say that my daughter had a great time was an understatement. The most exciting part was the plants.
As soon as we got home, she was already interested in finding real estate for the plants to call home. After careful consideration and a lot of demanding from a little one, the plants found a home next to each other in the front yard. The first plant that found a home in the soil would eventually be marigolds. The second was the green pepper plant. The marigolds grew very quickly and looked great until a chipmunk had a case of the munchies. The peppers on the other hand, did not look like they had a fighting chance.
As fate would have it, when the marigolds were eaten in August, the peppers decided to start blooming. The first several flowers on the plant started to look promising, but the peppers never took off. They would eventually turn black when they got to the size of a blueberry and fall off. It would be the weekend of Labor Day where three peppers started growing and have not given up since.
My daughter who barely likes broccoli has big plans for these guys. She will likely have to battle her grandma who wants to stuff them!
