My Big Green Idea

By Guest Blogger Kelly G.

When I was growing up, my parents had a vegetable garden. In my kid-sized memory I’d say it was about three car-lengths long and one wide, but it was probably much smaller than that. They asked a neighbor with a tractor to break the ground for them in early spring, and they turned the dirt by hand in the fall as they worked the burned leaf piles into it after harvest. (Remember that great smell? Mmmm.) I loved that garden. I got to pick lettuce, beans, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, radishes, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and herbs—dill was my favorite because that was where the butterflies landed. And except for the radishes, I feasted on all of it. I also learned to pickle and can from my mother, who taught herself to do it. The house used to reek of hot vinegar every summer. We saved tons of money and had pickles, canned beans, tomatoes, and vegetable soup to eat all winter.

I wanted to pass these memories and skills along to my kids, but I wasn’t sure how to do it since we live “in the city.” Where I got lucky was in having a neighbor (pictured above) who is an avid gardener already. Jane’s tiny yard is a festival of cottage-style flower gardening, complete with a pond she put in herself last weekend. My yard is heavily shaded, so vegetables are tough to work in, but between our driveways is a triangle-shaped strip of land that gets full sun most of the day. We bought and assembled two raised beds and some upside-down tomato hangers (and hung them with help from my husband, who built a structure for us). We laid paths around the beds with some abandoned brick. We planted every herb and veggie we could squeeze in, along with some blueberry and raspberry bushes. We studied the merits of French intensive gardening. And best of all, we truly involved the kids.

My boys, ages four and two, helped dig the dirt to put in the beds. They learned to cover up the worms and toss the grubs in the yard waste bin. They carried the bricks to help us build the path, and when the path between the beds was wide enough, they celebrated by riding their tricycles through it. They soaked bean seeds to plant. They helped plant lettuce, carrots, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, and flowers. (My two-year-old helped a little too much, and now we have lots of carrots to thin, but he was delighted with himself, so it was worth it.)

It’s already paying off in lots of expected ways. My kids ask every day if they can play in the garden. They are always checking to see what’s growing. They look for bees—and are happy instead of afraid when they find them. They got their own garden tools for Easter and are enthusiastic about digging and raking. They love to fill the watering can from the rain barrel and then drown our little seedlings. And they are eating. Both kids gleefully downed a handful of salad last night. If we did not have the garden, there would have been no salad at last night’s dinner because I didn’t have time to run to the grocery. There will be salad again tonight. The lettuce grows faster than we can eat it.

The garden is paying off in other, unexpected ways, too. Suddenly, I can get a little mommy time working in the garden (or just sitting there admiring it while drinking a cold beverage) while they play nearby in the back yard. They expect to spend time outside every day because they know there is usually work to be done (even if that work involves just sitting and watching the peas get taller). They get to see their mother build something with her hands: sweating, lifting, and working hard without even touching the computer.

But perhaps the best part is the relationship they are developing with our neighbor, whose grandchildren are several states away. My children presumptuously expect her to stop what she is doing and visit, feed them snacks, hold them when they are sick of me, play the “toll-booth game” as they ride around the garden, and generally participate in their lives. They insist on going into her yard and right into her house to play with the cats and the dog, and she is very patient with their intrusions. What a treat—for me—to see them bond as I take a break.

I am proud of my little garden. It’s like I have a new career. I am also thrilled that my family will be healthier from eating locally and organically. And maybe they will now get those five daily servings of fruits and veggies without me having to run to the store late in the afternoon because yet another bag of lettuce has gone gooey before I could use it.

Share with us other ways you help make your family greener and healthier.

Posted by Triad Smarty Pants at 5:00 AM