THE IMPERFECT JOURNEY
  • Home
    • Resources
    • Register
  • Classes
  • Schedule

Family Routines: Gardening!

4/30/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Small things make great routines!

One of my favorites has always been gardening. From the time my oldest was a toddler, we've been growing some of our own food, but in a small way. We moved into our house when my son was a tiny baby and inherited a major project in the backyard that made it nearly unusable for the first year. Gardening spaces were very limited! 

I remembered, not so fondly, the veggie gardens of my own childhood. Being sent out to  weed nearly an acre of kitchen garden, yuck! But even then I loved to eat green beans and other vegetables as I picked them. I knew that I wanted to give my kids some of the same experience.

We started with a tiny bit of garden in partial sun and grew just one thing, carrots. My son and I planted seeds in the rocky soil. We kind of forgot about them until mid-summer, when we realized there were feathery, soft leaves everywhere. He was thrilled to pull on the leaves and find a baby carrot!

As we could, we added a bed of herbs in the backyard near the sandbox. On their long summer days outside, my boys would sometimes get into the herbs. They discovered that chives worked like straws and would drink through them (kind of gross, right, but they loved it!). A neighbor gave me a wonderful, big mortar and pestle and the kids would grind up herbs into paste, tasting along the way.

As the years went on, one of our backyard trees fell and we were finally able to plant vegetables that needed more than a little sun. By then the boys were old enough to build raised bed boxes with me. That was fun!


We have really enjoyed the small experiences of picking our own food. Every year, we have harvested something, strawberries, sunflowers, greens, basil, tomatoes, hot peppers, and cucumbers. Usually we plant a lot and harvest a little, but it's enough. We enjoy eating things right out of the garden and have learned to make things including jam, pesto, picked hot peppers, and pickled cucumbers.

One of my favorite gardening rituals happens in the early spring--we plan together. As the spring goes on, we begin to eat from the garden. Just this week we just had our first 'garden meal' of the year--mint from the garden was in tabbouleh I made on one of the warm days this week.


My kids don't spend much time in the garden anymore, but I have a feeling they'll plant a garden for their own kids one day. And maybe start to enjoy it like I do!

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    About Gloria:

    I'm a person on a messy journey--healing, learning, discovering and rediscovering. Sharing, writing, talking, and teaching help me to understand myself and the world more clearly. I hope it can help make your journey a easier, too.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    Categories

    All
    Acceptance
    Adolescence
    Awareness
    Boundaries
    Communication
    Control
    Curiosity
    Discipline
    Emotions
    Gratitude
    Imperfection
    Interdependence
    Love
    Mindfulness
    Over-thinking
    Peace
    Poetry
    Presence
    Recommended Books
    Routines
    Self Care
    Small Moments
    Sovereignty
    Strategies
    Stress
    Teaching
    The Shadow

Join email list

* indicates required

Gloria Shepard

215-313-8587
gloriashepard@gmail.com


“The best way to take care of the future i
to take care of the present moment.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh


Photos used under Creative Commons from kellynphillong, baofengwuya, benjaflynn, adrianvfloyd, @lattefarsan, Toon van Dijk - Art, Jeromy_S, Infomastern, Aaron T. Goodman, built4love.hain, MaxIFaleel, Nick Harris1, Agnes_F, Pai Shih, Sten Dueland, astrologyphotographywesildssharon, donnierayjones, amira_a, www.FrancescoToluPhotography.com, US Department of Education, Bev Goodwin, Michel Curi, byzantiumbooks, Life Lenses, x1klima, la cegna, Franklin Park Library, Bambi Corro, Jerk Alert Productions, young@art, Army Medicine, built4love.hain, Brian Lane Winfield Moore, asim chaudhuri(anurupa_chowdhury_yahoo.co.in, Malmerio_, AndresRSaenz, markus spiske, davitydave, torbakhopper, vastateparksstaff, USDAgov, John Pannell, Kevin M. Gill, Philippe Put, dan_walk, Mikael Colville-Andersen, jeffreyw, Harald Groven, thejaan, Franck_Michel, tompagenet, Ruth and Dave, Iuri Medeiros, gagilas, Philippe Put, mru24, Sports Cars Fan, Filip Chudoba Performance., ThoseGuys119, Rod Waddington, mohd fahmi, chefranden, _dChris, donnierayjones, vwynx, Drew's Photo Shoots, quinn.anya, _Dinkel_, Luis Marina, Nithi clicks, torbakhopper, donnierayjones, edenpictures, Daddy-David, mikecogh, Joey Z1, Rod Waddington, donnierayjones, beltz6, Daddy-David, quinn.anya, stevendepolo, N Medd, www.audio-luci-store.it, Nithi clicks, aqua.mech, dickdotcom, x1klima, donnierayjones, andrewtoskin, urbanlatinfemale, Ronnie Macdonald, thejaan, Dean Hochman, Henry Hemming, Jim Bauer, beltz6, 3liz4, iggyshoot, kellyv, donnierayjones, Donna McNiel, Chris Hunkeler, torbakhopper, Felipe Fernandes Photography, Www.CourtneyCarmody.com/, roseannadana: Thank you for 3 million views, velmegunar, kiera.chan, Tomek Nacho, tdlucas5000, gagilas, Keoni Cabral, The U.S. Army, Street Photography Addict, jasonbolonski, Contando Estrelas, Barbara Bonanno BNNRRB, rayography, Simon Blackley, Simon Blackley, uyht, rachel_titiriga, kellyv, pixiduc, Pleuntje, alexisjordanlewis, Tony Webster, samswitzer, tedeytan, Keoni Cabral, meeekn, maf04, Mark J Devine, #ZS, ordjuret, rcadby14, Art Dino, Mr Moss, darraghoconnor12, cogdogblog, Daddy-David, Jim Larrison, myeralan, Eric Kilby, eekim, Tatters ❀, jakesmome, ragesoss, Charlie Day DaytimeStudios, T I M E L E S S, ScottMPhotos1, donnierayjones, ToGa Wanderings, rendy cipta muliawan, **** j a z z z i ***, lemonhalf, Miranda Mylne, quinn.anya, Kurt:S, Kevin M. Gill, crdotx, أدوّن وأوثق أيامي بالصور, Kurayba, flossyflotsam, pete Thanks for 3 Million Views Many thanks to eve, liebeslakritze, Matteo Bagnoli, askmir, juicylucymamma, mliu92, frankieleon, bogenfreund, Marianne Bevis, Jitabebe, Dr PS Sahana * Kadamtala Howrah, vastateparksstaff, Domenico Mascagna (@memmettovich), Rod Waddington, smallcurio, schwerdf, steffen#, Sabda Renjana, EVELYNFLINT.BLOG, Free the Image, Ricardo's Photography (Thanks to all the fans!!!), houroumono, will668, CJS*64, Bodomi, jqpubliq, Editor B, mripp, Matt Preston, __MaRiNa__, Déclencheur de Paysage, wuestenigel, Paul Rysz, yrrek, cchana, BFS Man, MikeSpeaks, Yutaka Seki, edenpictures, Philippe Put, Nature2Nurture, geekius, Norbert Reimer, Tatiana12, Lemsipmatt, stimpsonjake, abbilder
  • Home
    • Resources
    • Register
  • Classes
  • Schedule