Some friends of ours are on vacation and told us that we could pick peas, okra, and tomatoes from their garden while they were gone.
So, all week I’ve been planning on taking the kids out to their garden to pick. Sounded like fun. Imagine the cute pictures of them kneeling by the pea plants smiling in the middle of the garden. Cute, precious.
HARD WORK!
Oh my word! We sweated, our necks and backs ached, three bumblebees accompanied me most of the time I was there. We saw nasty looking bugs, got stuck by thorny bushes, and our shoes. Well, they are very muddy.
I’m a city girl. I love country things. I love that I can have fresh tomatoes, corn, okra, and peas from a garden in my town if I just request it from a friend. But I do not like picking them myself.
(True confessions: I called Stephen to ask him what color the peas were supposed to be for us to pick. There were brown ones, purple ones and green ones. I had been told that these peas were a different color than the normal peas that are picked. So, I didn’t really know. He told me to pick the purple ones, that brown ones were dead, and the green ones weren’t ready. And if that wasn’t enough, a few minutes later he drove up. To show me face-to-face what a ripe pea looked like. And then went back to the office. I just love that man!)
We didn’t work long. Just a little over an hour. We picked quite a bit though. After everyone took their shoes off to get in the van, the kids told me thank you. They thanked me for taking them to pick peas. Unbelievable.
And when I was thinking about it on the way home I realized they never complained about the heat. They talked about how hot it was, but it wasn’t complaining. I, on the other hand, was texting my friend Christy and complaining the whole time I was there.
It brings to mind Philippians 2:14 Do all things without complaining or grumbling… My children obeyed that verse but not me.
Lesson learned.
How about you? Are you picking veggies this summer?
Life With My Sister 
Picked some off the shelf at Kroger yesterday.Y.D.
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Best garden memory ever – one year it came huge rain storms around potato digging time, and we had to scramble and hurry to get them up before they began to rot. so, my whole family hauls out into our huge potato garden and dug like maniacs. i was a little kid, so i was up to my knees in mud, Mud, MUD!!!! loved it.digging potatoes is HARD work, though.
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I'm with you! I'm a city girl all the way. I love fresh veggies and fruit but, I am VERY thankful for the people who pick that produce and sell it to me. I will gladly pay the nice gentleman on the roadside for that nice watermelon or squash, peas or anything else he may have. However, it's a great experience and truly makes you appreciate those people even more. As far as the kids not complaining about the heat, well, you are obviously doing a great job on the mom front. I may need some lessons:)Tara
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