Occasional Paper

     
As I read Planting a Rainbow to my son tonight, I thought about how peculiar it is that a three and a half year old boy knows his flowers and has vegetables for friends.  It all started last summer when I decided to plant my first veggie garden out back.  My motivation was purely for the health of it.  I was determined to grow without the use of pesticides, and my boys were going to love eating their veggies if they could go out back and pick them for themselves.  That’s when his obsession began. 

Fast-forward a year.  As my family and I entered our neighborhood last night from our week-long voyage to California, I asked Orrin (my son) what he missed the most from home.  Without hesitation, he said “My garden.”  After a 3 am wake-up call and twelve hours of traveling, the last thing I wanted to do was go out to the garden and pick vegetables.  If you could have seen the excitement in his eyes over the chance of his squash being ready, you'd call me evil to deny him.  Out back we went, watering can in hand.  He proceeded to explain to me that his cantaloupes were not ready yet because they were still green.  Picking up a flower that had fallen off its stem he told me sympathetically, “This one didn’t make it.” He then pointed out how the okras were growing taller, but still not ready to be picked.  When he came to the jumbo squash, his eyes bulged out and he said, “They’re ready!”

I realized in this moment that my garden has become so much more than a pest-free produce box.  Not only has it become the highlight of Orrin’s day, but it was his first teacher in biology.  It is where he learned how a seed sprouts a stem, bees pollinate flowers -which eventually produce fruit, and weeds must be pulled to keep from stealing valuable water and nutrients.  He can count exactly how many plants he has growing, and recognizes when they are being eaten by Japanese beetles due to the holes in their leaves.  He can explain where rain comes from and why we use a rain barrel to catch and save it.  It is for these reasons, we will continue our family tradition of planting a garden every year.  It serves us our daily dose of conversation, patience, pride, and excitement in nature.   

Food for thought:

1. Climate change is happening.  What small yet significant steps can you take to reduce your carbon footprint?