Lessons From the Garden
Lessons From the Garden
When we were kids, spring, summer and fall, all five of us were expected to be in the garden helping out. There I learned the art of growing vegetables and enjoying eating fresh foods.
I also learned a lot about patience.
The soil had to be plowed and sometimes plowed again. Then rows were made. The seeds then were planted and then covered gently with the soil. The seeds required rain, sunshine and the nutrients from the soil in order to grow.
We always did things the same way, rotating different vegetables each year so as not to use up the nutrients in the soil time after time. My Dad would fertilize and compost the garden spot each fall and spring.
Working in the garden wasn't a choice, we had to do it. Everyone had to work and pull their own weight. We all had chores and my parents were always concerned about feeding a family of seven.
By teaching us values and hard work, working in the garden also taught us many other lessons. Not just patience, but to have faith. We worked and sweat and planted those seeds, having faith that they would grow and become vegetables we could eat. I've heard my parents say many times how they were anxious and could hardly wait to eat some fresh tomatoes or that first fresh corn of the season.
Just like anything in life, the garden had predators and problems. Bugs would try to eat the plants and vegetables before we had a chance to harvest them. Animals would raid the garden at nights and eat their fill.
I also learned from my parents, the joy of organic gardening. We rarely used pesticides unless things got really bad and the fertilizer used to make the soil rich was also organic. We were taught the old ways of warding off pests and problems and I use them even to this day.
As a kid, it didn't always seem like fun, the planting part, but watching the miracles appear in that garden were great! Seeing a seed grow into a pumpkin patch or a row of corn, picking plump tomatoes from the vines and hunting for cucumbers as the vines grew in all different directions. I still get excited when I plan my garden each year.
I appreciate the lessons I learned from the garden and am so very glad my parents instilled them in me. I have passed it onto my children and am having the opportunity to also pass it onto my Grandchildren.
What better lesson to share then to show them how to feed themselves and to can foods for later in the winter when the wind blows at their door. In a world that sometimes moves too fast and forgets how to slow down and enjoy watching things grow and prosper.
I see the magic in my Grandchildren's eye when they come to visit one day and they see the garden in its beginnings and then visit again to see the small starts of pumpkins hiding in the lush greenery or strawberries peaking outward towards the sun.
It's magic, faith and love, to plant a seed and know it will grow.
What a wonderful thing for us all to learn, those lessons of wisdom from the garden.
Fran Hafey is a Spiritual Counselor, Writer, Healer and Earth Activist She provides guidance and inspiration via her Website, groups and newsletter through the Internet and other Resources.
To read more of her articles visit the Author's Website: http://Mystickblue.com or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SpiritualPathways/join She's currently working on publishing her own books about love, inspiration, peace, magic and nature stories for Children of all ages.
