Natural Gardener

Children possess a natural inclination for gardening. If you want to feed the next generation, foster this innate curiosity. Bugs, soil, plants—they capture the attention of babies, preschoolers, and even teens.

 A few weeks ago I helped plant a “patchwork” garden box with some third graders. After thirty minutes of crouching in the hot sun to plant and water dozens of seeds, one of the boys exclaimed, “Wow! This is SO fun!” and another asked if he could take home seeds to do this at his house. A few days later my family worked with a struggling neighbor, whose children may have never used a yard tool before. Over two days and four hours my kids and I worked with 3 young men, a young woman, and 5 young children. They were absolutely thrilled to be industrious, to contribute, to get dirty, to look at bugs, and most of all, to be important enough to be entrusted with a job. 

Someone recently asked me how I got into gardening. After a moment of reflection, I responded, “Well, I never got out of it.” I have been in the mud, the berries, the weeds, the bugs since infancy. I helped my parents in the garden and when they didn't plant, my sister and friends at age 10 grew our own garden in hopes of making lots of money (by August there were so many grasshoppers in my 6-ft corn rows I wouldn’t even enter, much less pick and sell it). I can’t help weeding if I see weeds. And every February my soul yearns for delicate green life, no matter how much I vowed the summer before that I was done with gardening. 

Yesterday I had one of those victories that would have been so easy to miss. I brought in some spinach and left it on the kitchen counter, then went to the other room to listen to my answering machine. When I came back I found a trail of salad dressing drips that ended at my 3-yr old’s face. Overlooking the generous smears of dressing I said, “Wow, what’s this?” She mumbled through a full mouth, “I ate da spinach all gone.” A kid who sneaks into the spinach for a snack? I think she’s on her way to knowing how to feed herself someday. Have you fed your inner gardener today?

We are negotiating a contract with the city, our steering committee is evolving, and more than 30 kinds of vegetables are growing. We always appreciate help and hope to see you this Saturday morning between 8 and 10/11am.