Once we started getting more rain after an extended dry season recently, we were excited to be able to start planting our vegetable garden. Mikayla, Laurel, and Timothy all “participated” at varying levels. :-)

Our Papua New Guinean friend Tuma worked hard helping us prepare the soil using a shovel. In my previous gardening experience a rototiller was used for this step, but here in PNG those aren’t so easy to come by. Traditionally PNG people actually used a strong stick to break up the soil in preparation for planting but now in most places an iron spade or shovel is available and put to good use.

Here is our collection of seeds we built up over the last few months in anticipation of “taim bilong planim gaden” (Time for planting the garden).

Mikayla and Laurel really enjoyed the opportunity to splash in the water and play in the mud. What’s the fun of gardening if you don’t get a bit dirty? ;-)

Almost time to begin planting! Here Mikayla is getting her seeds while Laurel excitedly waits her turn.

Laurel getting her seeds…

And now for the important task of putting the seeds in the ground just right. I just love how you can see how much concentration they are putting into making sure they do this right!

Carefully patting the dirt on top of the seeds so that they will be all safe and snug. Oh, and you must remember that “seeds are like little tiny babies getting ready to grow up, so you can’t step on them!” (according to Mikayla).

Here Tuma is teaching Mikayla the art of planting different seeds at varying levels in the ground…beans and peas are planted deeper than tomato seeds.

Laurel’s favorite part of planting was making sure the seeds were gently covered with dirt and well patted before moving on to the next one. Each seed she planted definitely received some TLC and she was delighted that Tuma helped her cover the whole area with banana leaves when they were done planting. Laurel’s description of putting banana leaves over the garden was “tucking the baby seeds in so they can go to sleep and grow up to be big, big, big, big, big tomatoes!”

After the garden was planted, and all the seeds were securely “tucked in” for their long winter’s nap, the girls enjoyed a mini bath in the sink washing all the mud off their hands and feet.