2026 Little Easy Bean Network – Plant A Garden, Water Your Soul, Join Our Family

[Rillowen]

I would mulch bush bean well for weed control and some bush plants when they become mature lay over on the ground. Good mulching will keep them healthier and off the soil. You will appreciate the mulching you did when some of the plants you save for seed start drying pods.

This is a good note, thank you. I have a large pile of mulch i was going to use, and maybe some of the garden fabric too (with not enough mulch for plant rooting on top).

 

[Rillowen]

IF you were to watch me around the house YOU would diagnose ME as ADHD. I start a job, on the way to do something else I get distracted by another job, then a rest, then I stop and start a few more.
Really, so MANY of us are like that and the NORM.
It is the NON ADHD that are unusual.
Yes, focus is a good thing, but I need to not have distractions.
My 11mo GSD is Always distracting me, along with my favorite cat and her sisters and male cousin.
The ponies just need feeding every day--they don't distract, but my gardening distracts me, too.
Feel better?

Lol me too. I went undiagnosed, and its still not on any charts, bc I dont want meds ect. I did find several tricks and techniques to help when I started looking though. Such as a clock that sounds the time, and having a "point of work" where everything i need for a task is kept conveniently close to where I need it, preferably within arms reach. This might seem basic, but helps me alot. Less travel for supplies=less wandering off and forgetting what I was doing.

 

[ruralmamma]

This is almost exactly my experience. I was a single mom for a time and remember thinking there was no way I could do it, having no breaks from my daughter. But turns out, when I pulled her out and started raising her myself without the stress of pre-school (that's as far as we went) I was actually quite fond of her company. Imagine that. I recon I like most people better when they aren't dysregulated and stressed. Once I embraced hands-on and started following her lead, we were golden. We are honestly more un-schooling than anything. I fell through the cracks as a kid, adhd and ocd went undiagnosed and home life was less than wonderful. I ended up dropping out of high school at 15 to train horses and later tested into college with scholarships for those scores, and I was a successful and happy university student. So that told me everything I needed to know.

I breezed through school for the most part. Rarely took a book home and only struggled through geometry (because we had a poor algebra teacher the year before) and junior English (because he was a monotone bore). I too suspect I have undiagnosed ADHD because my mind is constantly jumping from one thing to another. When I develop an interest in something I tend to devour every bit of information I can on the subject.

Having a child with learning disabilities has required a completely different mindshift about learning. Enrolled her in pre-K because I could see she was falling behind and because of the "socialization" everyone was so concerned about. That was the year COVID made its appearance and schooling abruptly ended mid-March, I opted for remote schooling the next year and she returned to school her first grade year. It seemed that she would have an excellent teacher followed by a horrible one. Third grade teacher informed me that the role of my daughter's aide was to keep her quiet and she quit speaking to me when I asked who was supposed to keep classmates prone to outbursts quiet. Needless to say I wasn't sad when that teacher left in the middle of the year except for the fact that it was constant substitutes after that. Fourth grade teacher was new but excellent! She not only spent time working with my daughter, but clued me in to some things the special ed department wasn't doing. That and an incident which led me to demand a camera in the special ed classroom was the breaking point. I hated losing her aide and therapists as they were one of the main reasons I held out for so long. It was a small school and at most her class size was 19 and had dropped to 14 last year.

As far as timing, it couldn't have been worse. I have had major ankle and knee issues over the past year and at one point my husband was so ill that I wondered if he'd ever come home again. I've basically took an unschooling approach as I feel that's more beneficial for all of us, but trying to sneak some fun reading and math curriculum in too.

 

[ruralmamma]

Lol me too. I went undiagnosed, and its still not on any charts, bc I dont want meds ect. I did find several tricks and techniques to help when I started looking though. Such as a clock that sounds the time, and having a "point of work" where everything i need for a task is kept conveniently close to where I need it, preferably within arms reach. This might seem basic, but helps me alot. Less travel for supplies=less wandering off and forgetting what I was doing.

I've been doing the same, especially in the garden. Concentrating on one area at a time instead of building a bed here... better pull that weed... the grass needs mowed... wonder what that plant is - better look it up... I should check and make sure I have enough pots for transplants in the greenhouse... did I water the peas this morning...

 

[ruralmamma]

I would mulch bush bean well for weed control and some bush plants when they become mature lay over on the ground. Good mulching will keep them healthier and off the soil. You will appreciate the mulching you did when some of the plants you save for seed start drying pods.

I hoard fall leaves for mulching. Either mow over them or run them through a garden chipper. Helps tremendously with weeds but also holds in moisture which has been crucial as we're starting out yet another garden season in drought.

 

[Rillowen]

I breezed through school for the most part. Rarely took a book home and only struggled through geometry (because we had a poor algebra teacher the year before) and junior English (because he was a monotone bore). I too suspect I have undiagnosed ADHD because my mind is constantly jumping from one thing to another. When I develop an interest in something I tend to devour every bit of information I can on the subject.

Having a child with learning disabilities has required a completely different mindshift about learning. Enrolled her in pre-K because I could see she was falling behind and because of the "socialization" everyone was so concerned about. That was the year COVID made its appearance and schooling abruptly ended mid-March, I opted for remote schooling the next year and she returned to school her first grade year. It seemed that she would have an excellent teacher followed by a horrible one. Third grade teacher informed me that the role of my daughter's aide was to keep her quiet and she quit speaking to me when I asked who was supposed to keep classmates prone to outbursts quiet. Needless to say I wasn't sad when that teacher left in the middle of the year except for the fact that it was constant substitutes after that. Fourth grade teacher was new but excellent! She not only spent time working with my daughter, but clued me in to some things the special ed department wasn't doing. That and an incident which led me to demand a camera in the special ed classroom was the breaking point. I hated losing her aide and therapists as they were one of the main reasons I held out for so long. It was a small school and at most her class size was 19 and had dropped to 14 last year.

As far as timing, it couldn't have been worse. I have had major ankle and knee issues over the past year and at one point my husband was so ill that I wondered if he'd ever come home again. I've basically took an unschooling approach as I feel that's more beneficial for all of us, but trying to sneak some fun reading and math curriculum in too.

I also breezed through school, and was considered "smart", had to work harder at college, but still made it through with a 3.8 (i think ) GPA while working 30-40 hrs a week. But wow my husband blows my "smart" out of the water! He and his family were all homeschooled, and are brilliant. We started out with homeschool, our kids have never gone to public school and I am glad for it, especially after certain things started becoming evident. If you are Christian I can't recommend "Christian light" enough, it is well built and sequential with God centered in every subject, and you can pick how fast/how many books they do a year. After a point your kiddo can do most of it entirely themselves, except occasional questions and grading the lesson. They also offer placement testing and even accreditation for when your kids graduate. It makes the homeschooling alot easier, and more secure feeling when facing the govt.

 

[Rillowen]

I hoard fall leaves for mulching. Either mow over them or run them through a garden chipper. Helps tremendously with weeds but also holds in moisture which has been crucial as we're starting out yet another garden season in drought.

Yes, I bag all the leaves and dump them in the fenced in garden every year, along with the summer chicken bedding. It all mixes up and breaks down all winter, then is ready for spring planting!