There is something about growing and nurturing plants, especially plants that bear food, that I fine suprisingly satisfying. I have fond memories of working beside my mother as a child as she labored in our huge garden. I would sit barefoot, in my little dress, hair braided and eat lima beans and string beans almost as fast as I could pick them. I thought I was pretty special when I was old enough to use the rototiller in our garden. Again with barefeet but my toes are all intact. People sometimes wonder why I don't make my children wear shoes and I wonder why I should make them wear shoes. There is something freeing about running out the door, through the grass onto your next adventure all the while feeling the grass and mud on your feet. It engages the senses. That's what I will say next time. That we are all about sensory integration at this house.
I am sure I romanticize things in my mind a lot but I dream of becoming more self-sustaining. We have expanded our garden this year and I am loving every minute of my daily walk through it as I encourage my vegetables to grow. I am keeping a garden journal so I know what things to increase next year. I already know I will be planting more kidney and black beans. We are planting more blueberry bushes and working on making an area for a small orchard. Just a few trees.
My kids go out to count the watermelon nearly everyday and monitor how they are growing. Heidi had my camera in the garden and took all the pictures of the plants. She is my side kick everywhere I go!
Waiting patiently for me to catch up so we can start filling the bowl with the days surprises. I have been researching and reading more about self-sustainability. Something that a couple of generations ago was a way of life and now we give it a romanticized name. Homesteading or being self-sustaining. But there is great satisfaction in growing, freezing, canning and putting things away for your family as you head into winter. I find inspiration from people like Amanda Soule from soulemama.com and have gleaned a lot of useful information from her gardening. Something about the simpler way of life resonates deep within me and so we continue moving in that direction.
Not simpler from a work standpoint. It is a lot of work but it is rewarding. I always feel like I am doing what I am made to do when I am working in my garden with the kids playing (or yelling) around me.
This weekend found Mark cutting down some trees that were either dead or unhealthy. Which meant my kids had a new thing to climb and play on for hours!
Almost every day I hope we don't have to make a run to the ER since my kids are dirty from head to toe! I am trying desperately to throw myself into life with as much abandon as they.
Do you have a garden? What are your favorite things to eat from your garden? Right now mine are my orange cherry tomatoes. They get popped into my mouth immediately!
2 comments:
Oh that sounds wonderful! Joel and I would love to have a garden someday, but it's kinda hard when you live in a big city! Plus, I'm not very good at keeping things alive :) You'd think growing up on a farm that I would have a green thumb, but I don't.
P.S. I NEVER wore shoes growing up. I told my kids how I could even run on the rocks. They were impressed!
Hello! The garden sounds fabulous! We have a plot in our community garden, because our tiny land has a lot of shade. Our plot is just about 4x10, but has a lot packed into it. My quickest grow is swiss chard-- those plants produce so much chard!! I have to give some away to coworkers. I love the orange cherry tomatoes, and the purple ones. I also love growing carrots, peppers, and kale. And basil!
I love growing it all. I'm just learning to vegtable garden, a first step toward self sustaining. I find it very enjoyable. There's nothing like picking some great veggies, washing, and eating them for dinner.
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