Rain ... vegetable patches

We've had a lot of rain today. I blame this on our having recently purchased and installed a little sprinkler system at the kids' vegetable patches. Peter connected them up yesterday, but it's rained several times today so we've not been able to justify turning them on.

I'm hoping that the addition of sprinklers to the vegetable patches holds the key to actually getting some vegetables (and herbs) out of them. This is about our fourth attempt at vegetables in the last few years. Usually the effort required to water, weed, and discern what is a weed and what is not is too much for the young gardeners and the vegetable patches die a horrible, thirsty, overgrown death. Watering the patches used to require tugging obstinate, heavy, muddy, only-just-long-enough hose around the garden, fending off dogs of different sizes, and getting thoroughly wet in the process. Hence the sprinklers, and an attempt to demarcate different areas of the patches where they've planted different seeds. Last time things kept popping out of the ground and I had absolutely no idea whether it was friend or foe (being totally clueless about all things plantish).

We hope this time for stunningly successful crops of carrots, lettuces, beetroots, peppers, spinach, strawberries, and beans - as well as some herbs and flowers!