The joys of hiring kids to help in the garden

10 years ago

I've got too much to do in too few days before I'm off on travel again, so neighborhood 15 year old with no summer job is the obvious choice for help. I offer to pay him $8.00 an hour (almost as much as his father makes as a farm hand) and it's a deal.

So, this was my morning today:

He comes down on the 4 wheeler, and I hear voices. His little brother has tagged along. Now I have to keep the younger one busy, too, in order to keep them from fighting. This is a good challenge for me -- I like these kids, and enjoy hanging out with them.

I send them to the shed to get the electric tiller and an extension cord, and when some time goes by (the older boy is on the clock!) I wonder what is happening. Suddenly they shout for me to come quickly (leaving my work in the garden). When I get there, they tell me there's this awesome snake in the shed they've been trying to catch. I tell them to leave the snake alone and let's get to work. I tell them if they work hard, I'll take them to the river later to swim (bribery at its best).

The older boy tills, the younger boy manages the cord, and I get back to work. Until I notice the younger one looking like he's about to pass out. He has worn a thick, long sleeved, turtleneck shirt (that bears some name that makes it sound like it keeps you cool) and it's a hot day. I go inside and fill a bottle with water, come out and dump it on him. He feels better. I dump some water on all of us -- this is good.

They do some work, but take numerous breaks to eat my sweet peas. I treasure these peas, and wanted to eat them myself, but you can't tell boys not to eat vegetables, so I watch my sweet peas disappearing. Sigh. It's hard to share.

When the tiller stops running because they have overheated it, (they're tilling quack grass in my garden paths) I put the older boy to work with a digging fork in one of my thou-shalt-not-set-foot-in-here-ever garden beds (which has been taken over by quack grass, too). Soon I hear "watch this!" and he shows me how he can pole vault over the bed, from one path to another, using the digging fork as the pole. I tell him stop, lest he land in the bed (he KNOWS he better not land in that bed!)

I look at the clock. They've worked (???) for an hour and a half and I'm exhausted. I tell them it's time to go home.

But first, they say, they have to climb up to the top of my maple tree, because their mother would never allow it and she can't see them from my house. Rather than argue, I decide to stay inside for the climbing session (I was a tree climber when I was a kid -- how can I stop them?) They survive and leave for home.

Now I have a couple of hours of peace before I have to take them swimming at a river that, after I'd already promised, their big sister announced was waaaaay up from all the rain. This should be interesting . . .

Comments (9)

wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
10 years ago
You should have 3 boys at a time. The old proverb concerning boys working says, "A boy is a boy. Two boys are a half of a boy, and three boys are no boys.
elisa_z5
Original Author
10 years ago
Wayne I love that proverb!!
Related Professionals
Middle Island Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Arlington Landscape Contractors · Bloomington Landscape Contractors · Brunswick Landscape Contractors · Dedham Landscape Contractors · Duarte Landscape Contractors · El Mirage Landscape Contractors · Leicester Landscape Contractors · Monterey Landscape Contractors · Muttontown Landscape Contractors · Spring Landscape Contractors · Tigard Landscape Contractors · Chicago Ridge Landscape Contractors · Palos Heights Landscape Contractors · Rochester Hills Driveway Installation & Maintenance
sunnibel7 Md 7
10 years ago
Ah, that explains all the complaints my dad had about my 3 brothers...
seysonn
10 years ago
Sounded like baby sitting. LOL
2ajsmama
10 years ago
I've just got 1 slae - err, boy. He was finished with exams so no school yesterday, we went out at 9AM to try to prep raised beds for peppers. He got a wheelbarrow of composted manure (basically good loam) and dug it into the top of the sandy bed at the end of the tomato trellis (about 15ft) while I replaced some sad tomatoes. Then got another wheelbarrow full while I started pulling out ragweed, pulled the burlap off the empty bed (and raked through the anthills underneath), then he followed behind me picking up clumps of crabgrass, pulling bindweed, etc. that I had loosened (burlap didn't stop everything and weeds grew at the end of that row where we just had hay covering after digging potatoes last year).

We came in for lunch at noon, then went back out to finish weeding the bed. He announced that he was dying of boredom and I let him go back to the house while I finished up.

Today we start manuring that (100ft long) bed. I went easy on him b/c he had a Personal Fitness merit badge session that afternoon and I didn't want to wear him out ;-) Plus his sister had a half day of school and I wanted her to help me pick strawberries.
elisa_z5
Original Author
10 years ago
ajsmama -- Great that your kids are so involved in the garden!

That must be the difference between the mountains of WV and CT. In CT working in the garden is boring, and in WV it's great entertainment, since there is absolutely nothing that goes on out here -- there are no friends nearby, no rides to activities, nothing. Actually, the river is the biggest excitement, and we all survived the strong current yesterday, including the dog who couldn't figure out why he kept being washed away.
2ajsmama
10 years ago
Oh, DS would love to be in the river but the rivers are so high right now several people have been drowned tubing/kayaking. He'd rather be inside playing guitar or reading. DD helped me pick strawberries that day, but yesterday "was almost finished with her book" so didn't (and I didn't either, just started making some jam with berries in fridge and she came to help with that). Can't blame them, when I was young I was a bookworm too (no time now). But I also climbed trees, rode my bike,when I was older rode my horse and had a summer job. And of course was expected to water and feed all the animals (horse, 3 ponies, and usually 2-3 cows and a steer).
elisa_z5
Original Author
10 years ago
Now that's impressive -- guitar or reading. You've reminded me that when a kid has resources within themselves, even isolation in the country doesn't need to send them always to video games and TV for entertainment. (I'm a suburban person moved to the country, so the isolation is new to me.)

And actually, I think it was the new electric tiller that made working in my garden so attractive to these boys.
Boys + power tools = good times :)

Enough strawberries for jam? Yum!
2ajsmama
10 years ago
Oh, I've been making jam (only 5 jars per batch, I don't use pectin so 1/2 lb of berries per jar) every other day. Winding down now - I just came in from picking (didn't pick yesterday) and haven't weighed them but probably less than a lb. Finished making that batch started yesterday (it needs to sit a while both before and after cooking). Made 3 batches this week so 15 jars, sold 2 at market Wednesday and hope to sell a lot more next week.

I don't think DS watches TV at all - unless it's a rare time when I'm not watching The Voice so he may join DH for Antiques Roadshow. And my parents have satellite, will record nature shows, country music awards shows for the kids to watch when they visit but DS is too busy to visit them often.

I watch The Voice and Revolution when they're not reruns, but our antenna broke about 2 weeks ago so I had to catch the season finales online. Wouldn't you know it was just that one channel affected (though we never were able to pick up ABC so now we're down to CBS, PBS, FOX and some Spanish channels).

We went to my cousin's kids' birthday party (they live next door 1 mile down the road) yesterday, he was really bored the whole 4 hours (didn't take a book) since he and DD were the oldest ones there (she's 9, he's 14). He just went for the food. He didn't ask to go home though.