garden wish flags

It was a full weekend with perfect weather and many hours in the garden. Memorial Day Weekend is the traditional time to get all of your plants and seeds in the ground in our region. It always seems like such a hustle, but somehow we manage each year. Our garden may not look like one of Martha's, but it feeds us all summer long and teaches our children where dinner comes from. I have learned a lot about gardening with little ones over the years and hope to jot down some tips soon. Today I want to share our latest addition to our vegetable patch: Wish Flags. I really wanted to create a new family tradition centered around our summer growing season. The nature swatches were still fresh in my mind...
So today we brought out the fabric markers and crayons. I cut up 8x10 pieces of cotton.

Together we talked about what our plants would need to thrive. Individually, and in collaboration, we created flags to hang on our garden fence that represented our hopes and wishes for our little seedlings.
There were lots of suns and raindrops... "good" garden insects and worms. Of course, a warning to all slugs had to be included. The conversation was fantastic as we sat at the picnic table all drawing together.

We've never had such an in depth discussion about plant life. I had to run and cut more fabric several times, because no one wanted to stop! After completion, I heat set each one with the iron... then zigzagged the rectangles to a long ribbon. I didn't worry about tidiness, just speed. The gardeners were waiting...

They raced down to the garden and we strung them up on the fence.

If you're planting this summer, I can't recommend this more! These flags are happy, thoughtful and represent our family beautifully.

Note: All of that time spent at our picnic benches drawing (on a Monday)...well, of course we had to do the family edition of Bench Monday! So much more fun together!
1... 2... 3... JUMP!
Have a great start to your week!