I remember my first garden that was all mine. I was 12. My parents kept an impressive yard bursting with flowers, herbs and shady nooks but I wanted my own plot and I wanted to grow food. I asked my mom about it and I am pretty sure we were in the car on the way to buy seeds and compost before I could say please.
^ Margot, September 2009 ^
We lived in Georgia then and I had a tiny strip of earth that I carefully tended. I can’t remember what all I planted but what I do remember was the pride in nourishing a freckle into a carrot and the excitement in growing food.
Then I became a teenager and was more interested in boys, big bangs and pushing my parents’ patience than digging. But that first experience always stuck with me and I knew I’d return to it. It’s just too miraculous, satisfying and healthy not to.
^ Margot, August 2008 ^
And so I did return to it as soon as I had my first nugget of land to transform. I think I was 19. And gardening and I have been in a passionate, fiery affair ever since.
^ 2004 :: my first garden at our current home ^
On the list of things my Highly Important Things My Kids Will Appreciate, food and where it comes from is up there. I am so happy organic is trendy and urban gardens are growing. Because seriously, for a while there, it just wasn’t cool or mainstream enough. But even with the increase in popularity regarding knowing where your food comes from, there is still a lot of this and that makes me sad.
So, good grief Nici justgettothepointalready, I talk a lot with Margot about what food is, how it gets from field to plate. She loves it and finds it fascinating which makes me swell. We cook together and we grow the ingredients we cook with. My daughter knows what a seed is, what it turns into, how much work that takes and how it becomes her dinner. It’s very cool to witness her appreciation of the process.
^ Margot, June 2009 ^
So this year I asked her if she’d like her own garden to which her mouth formed a sweet, surprised “o”. I spread my seeds across the kitchen table and she carefully picked cherry tomatoes, pumpkins and carrots.
I found an old piece of baseboard in the garage (see you jest never know when you might need something like that. TOTALLY worth holding onto) and bug set out to make herself a sign for her own garden. She directed the whole thing, picking the colors and placement of the paint. We used washable paint and then I printed out the letters, transferred the outline with carbon paper and filled in with black latex and clear-coated the whole thing so rain wouldn’t wash her art away.
At least that was the plan but I left it out to clear coat and it rained and then it was again, ahem, a blank canvas. So we got to do it again! She actually thought it was very cool. THEN I clear coated it, cut a pointed end and drove that puppy into her garden.
She is so proud and loves to weed, dig and water. She’ll often say, as we are coming or going, mama, first I’ve gotta dig real quick. How can I say no to that? And so we dig real quick several times a day.
And all this garden gab makes me wonder where you all are with the Virgin Harvest? I’d love to know how your plots are thickening. (and it’s not to late to join in!)
34 Comments
How sweet. We gave Spenser a flower garden this year. We talked about color schemes (all pink or all purple, etc.), but she decided she wanted rainbow. And I shouldn’t have been surprised. Rainbow is her favorite color.
Maybe next year she can have her own veggie garden. She loves to work in ours.
Nici, that Jamie Oliver video is so disturbing…. yuck.
My garden is coming along, but have been unhappy with some of the varieties that I chose this year (“Pacman” broccoli, maybe cute name but not a big producer!) but you live and learn. Can’t wait for tomatoes, and I already have a list of what I wish I planted this year and what to avoid next time. First on the list, at least one more big bed!
This is just cuter than hell!! Love the old pics of you and Margot Bea. XOXO
I love it and I love the sign! Lucy is obsessed with being in the garden as much as I am and it makes me so happy. At 2.5 y/o she knows what more plants & edibles are than many adults and loves to try things. She grazes through the garden munching on chives, rosemary, peas, kale and berries.
We also gave her her own spot this year and she loves it. I, unfortunately, didn’t plan it so she could do much tending herself. I love how you did hers!
As terribly sad as that video is, I couldn’t help but laugh a few times.
I love seeing how amazing your garden is. Mine has missed the sun so much. After this week of sun the tomatoes are finally able to stretch their sweet legs. We have been at the lake in MT this week getting sloppy kisses from the sun. i can’t wait to run back here in Aug. or at least do the 10 hour drive. you are so lucky to call this state home. I only had it for the first 15 years of my life. At least I get it for the summer. 🙂
I looove Marogt’s garden sign. I always gave my four boys each a section too as they were growing up. They are in that in between stage (17-23) My oldest does have a garden this year. The rest of them not. Here’s my latest garden update
http://everyday-gifts.blogspot.com/2010/07/summer-garden-update.html
The one I’m worried about is the celery. It may require more water than our well is up to. Edamame and melons are lookng good :).
Love this post! Some of my earliest memories are of picking purple beans and hollyhocks in my mom’s garden. Fast forward 30ish years to my own first “real” garden (not in pots). It’s growing beautifully and I am learning so much about what to do and not to do next time. I am getting excited and just a bit fearful about learning to can once my gazillion tomatoes decide to blush. My kids love it and are very adventurous about eating everything it is producing. I way over-planted the lettuce so everyone we know is having free salad these days, but I am so happy to have enough to share! Thanks for your inspiration here. I often look at the archives to get gardening tips and recipe ideas and am so glad they are there for me!
I know I shouldn’t complain since things grow so easily here, but we have just one tiny red cherry tomato in our garden today. I swear, last year, by this time, we had bushels of ripe tomatoes to eat. This has been a weird year in San Francisco. but we are really looking forward to our tomato harvest. Better late than never… we have limes growing like mad. as a tip: they really like the heat of the hot tub (not eco friendly but a great heat source for citrus).
Lindsay
oh, and i should add, john is our grower. not me. i already killed the only things i planted this year: flowers.
Wow, do I love your post today. I too have a life-long passion for gardening (thanks to my mother); and for as long as I can remember I sat in the dirt, pulling, digging, planting. But it was of the perennial garden variety of gardening accented with ornamental grasses and ornamental trees. And I used to mock my mom and friends as they Goggled over a video of ornamental grasses. Ah, to be 15 again. But the dirt pulled me back time-and-time again, and now my husband calls it my cocktail.
And next year (just out of my inability to get my crap together this year) I am removing part of ONE of my perennial beds for Alex’s garden. Outside of tomatoes and peppers and herbs, I am a virginal vegetable gardener. LOL. (Do you hear Madonna singing in the background?). I am so looking forward to her having her own space and for us to use the dirt for her enjoyment and education. And you are inspiring me to try potatoes – it’s insane how good they are when they are fresh!
Have you tried making a living teepee for Margot out of bamboo stakes and either peas or morning glories? It’s out of this world whimsical and a fun spot for the kids too.
Enjoy your weekend. Looks like you already are. 🙂
-Jennifer
My oldest little one is 16 months old- but next year, we’re planting a garden and I CAN’T WAIT!
Here are some photos taken last week…I picked Sugar Ann peas last night, and we’ve been eating spinach/greens/lettuce for weeks!http://writerwoman61.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/gorgeous-greenery-how-my-garden-grows/
Fab post! That video makes me crazy! My grad work in Msla focused on enviro and ag education with elementary school kids..love love love it!
Anywho…so my virgin harvest deal.. my okra died before I even got it put in the ground. It looked sick straight from germination. Oh well. My artichokes are alive and growing but it’s been such a cold wet spring I’m not sure they’ll have time to produce (we’re FINALLY getting some sun and heat just these past few days!) I decided to drop farmer’s market and focus on CSA and the CSA is going wonderfully! Though I’ve been planning my what-to-do-differentlies for a couple months now…but I’m sure you know how that goes:)
Grow, Margot, Grow!!! Have faith that if she loses interest in her teen-ish years she’ll come back around to it just like her mama did:)
Oh I love this, what a cute sign!
I wish we had a big garden, I looove digging in the dirt too. I keep saying I could probably squeeze in a nice little 8×8 patch somewhere in this backyard and I need to get off my bum and do it.
My parents always had a garden when I was a kid, definitely the only one on my block- we lived in a little apartment in the Chicago suburbs…they asked the landlord if they could make one in the side yard. They grew tons of spinach, tomatoes, and mint (mint was just b/c we loved the smell so much). Every summer my sister and I would go pick our spinach and tomatoes and have them for a salad. I want my daughters to have memories like that, it really shapes how you think of food like you said.
We have lots of flowers in our yard that my 3 yr old Lily helps me tend to and almost every night now she says “I need to gaw-den mama”. Not I want to, I NEED to. omg I love that 🙂
Oh and that video is awful. Don’t get me started on how so many kids today are fed. ugh…
When I was teaching I would often cringe at snack time when I’d see what my kids would pull out of their lunchbags- what their parents considered a “healthy snack”…
Awesome stuff. Great sign.
I love what my kids have learned about food and life just by being by my side in the garden.
So many universal truths from the life cycle of a seed.
Yay for Margot’s Garden! She looks so proud too. Now Ruby Rubes is the same age as Bug in that August 2008 pic – too cute…
What an uplifting post! I think if more mamas take the time to teach the evolution of seed to plate, egg to chick, calf to stew ~ etc….our future generations will be SO appreciative of ma earth….love you Burb!
Growing up my dad gave each of us our own garden plots, in which we could plant whatever we wanted. It was so fun and instilled a life long love of gardening. What a blessing for Margot!
So OMG!! We actually went out to Missoula for a week, leaving our 20 year old daughter in charge of the house. DON”T LET MY PLANTS DIE!!! was on her list of responsibilities. We pulled into the drive about 20 minutes ago… and my Brandywine tomato is now a freaking tree!!! It has half-dozen tomatoes fully formed and enlarging, and about a bazillion more blossoms/baby tomatoes! My zucchini are a bit yellow… think they got too much water, not enough sun, but good god, I may take over the world with cucumbers! Awesome!! My dill bit the dust before we left, but I bet I can grow another one, from a start this time, and we’ll see if I can actually make dill pickles from my own cukes and dill.
And we love MIssoula even more than we thought we did, and will be moving there next spring! Once this academic year is done, Hubby’s contract is over, no more renewals. Free!! Rockies, the Colorado girl is coming back, just a wee bit north this time.
Aewsomeness! Thanks for that SHOCKING link…I can’t believe there are children who can’t identify fresh foods.
I loveLOVEloveLOVElove this! And I am sad about that video, too. Geez. To not be able to recognize a friggen tomato? Really?
I don’t know how my life would have been as a child without the vegetable garden. It was a daily thing! Anyway.
It was a very happy moment when I went to visit my goddaughter and she took me out to see HER garden. Where she planted – TAH DAH – tomatoes. Talk about *swell*.
So proud of that monkey. Though, I’d be more proud if her mom would stop taking her to McDonald’s, but what do I know.
We finished shelling peas today. Lots of green tomatoes, strawberries, zucchini and yellow neck squash. Exciting finds for today were a little spaghetti squash and some pumpkins! I have been posting pics on my blog: http://mentalchew.blogspot.com/
that video makes me sad, as well!
so sweet to see margot with her garden. 🙂
Hey Dig, this post reminds me of the gardens my parents had and have…always lots of veggies, when we lived in Chicago, London, LA, and back to Chicago. My dad, who is Japanese, loves to plant Japanese cukes and eggplant and lots of tomatoes. Makes pickles from the cucumbers, very tasty. And my mom, who is German, grew everything else…carrots, herbs, potatoes, RHUBARB!
This instilled in me the same love of gardening that you got from your parents. Actually, as a 10-year old, when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I proudly said, “a botanist.”
We’ve been in this house for 6 years and this is the first year that I didn’t plant the veggies, so sad, too busy! Next year, for sure.
So I just feast my eyes of my posts from previous years like this:
http://icolossus.blogspot.com/2007/07/updated-photos-my-organic-tomatoes-2007.html
http://icolossus.blogspot.com/2009/07/from-our-veggie-garden.html
Beautiful post!
-iColossus
Hey Dig, this post reminds me of the gardens my parents had and have…always lots of veggies, when we lived in Chicago, London, LA, and back to Chicago. My dad, who is Japanese, loves to plant Japanese cukes and eggplant and lots of tomatoes. Makes pickles from the cucumbers, very tasty. And my mom, who is German, grew everything else…carrots, herbs, potatoes, RHUBARB!
This instilled in me the same love of gardening that you got from your parents. Actually, as a 10-year old, when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I proudly said, “a botanist.”
We’ve been in this house for 6 years and this is the first year that I didn’t plant the veggies, so sad, too busy! Next year, for sure.
So I just feast my eyes of my posts from previous years like this:
http://icolossus.blogspot.com/2007/07/updated-photos-my-organic-tomatoes-2007.html
http://icolossus.blogspot.com/2009/07/from-our-veggie-garden.html
Beautiful post!
-iColossus
Hey Dig, this post reminds me of the gardens my parents had and have…always lots of veggies, when we lived in Chicago, London, LA, and back to Chicago. My dad, who is Japanese, loves to plant Japanese cukes and eggplant and lots of tomatoes. Makes pickles from the cucumbers, very tasty. And my mom, who is German, grew everything else…carrots, herbs, potatoes, RHUBARB!
This instilled in me the same love of gardening that you got from your parents. Actually, as a 10-year old, when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I proudly said, “a botanist.”
We’ve been in this house for 6 years and this is the first year that I didn’t plant the veggies, so sad, too busy! Next year, for sure.
So I just feast my eyes of my posts from previous years like this:
http://icolossus.blogspot.com/2007/07/updated-photos-my-organic-tomatoes-2007.html
http://icolossus.blogspot.com/2009/07/from-our-veggie-garden.html
Beautiful post!
-iColossus
Hey Dig, this post reminds me of the gardens my parents had and have…always lots of veggies, when we lived in Chicago, London, LA, and back to Chicago. My dad, who is Japanese, loves to plant Japanese cukes and eggplant and lots of tomatoes. Makes pickles from the cucumbers, very tasty. And my mom, who is German, grew everything else…carrots, herbs, potatoes, RHUBARB!
This instilled in me the same love of gardening that you got from your parents. Actually, as a 10-year old, when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I proudly said, “a botanist.”
We’ve been in this house for 6 years and this is the first year that I didn’t plant the veggies, so sad, too busy! Next year, for sure.
So I just feast my eyes of my posts from previous years like this:
http://icolossus.blogspot.com/2007/07/updated-photos-my-organic-tomatoes-2007.html
http://icolossus.blogspot.com/2009/07/from-our-veggie-garden.html
Beautiful post!
-iColossus
Hey Dig, this post reminds me of the gardens my parents had and have…always lots of veggies, when we lived in Chicago, London, LA, and back to Chicago. My dad, who is Japanese, loves to plant Japanese cukes and eggplant and lots of tomatoes. Makes pickles from the cucumbers, very tasty. And my mom, who is German, grew everything else…carrots, herbs, potatoes, RHUBARB!
This instilled in me the same love of gardening that you got from your parents. Actually, as a 10-year old, when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I proudly said, “a botanist.”
We’ve been in this house for 6 years and this is the first year that I didn’t plant the veggies, so sad, too busy! Next year, for sure.
So I just feast my eyes of my posts from previous years like this:
http://icolossus.blogspot.com/2007/07/updated-photos-my-organic-tomatoes-2007.html
http://icolossus.blogspot.com/2009/07/from-our-veggie-garden.html
Beautiful post!
-iColossus
oh. love love LOVE this.
what a marvelous way to have a garden for your girl.
next year my virgin harvest will be giving each kiddo a garden, mm-k? and if i forget … you will remind me. right?
this year though. ugh. i never got the potatoes. so. i kinda failed. BUT! i did get plenty of other plants in. and even managed several from seed.
i’ll have to post about all things garden soonish.
Although I live in Maui – it is not as easy to grow things as one might assume. We live on old pineapple land which I’m sure has enough pesticides to make me grow a third arm out of my forehead – so raised bed it was. The strawberries and arugula took off. The romaine and kale? Not so much. Made 3 batches of pesto and ate nasturtiums in every salad. Not too bad for my Virgin harvest!
We also have papaya, lemon, avocado, banana, passionfruit and guava trees. But I didn’t plant those as they came with the property. But are LOVELY to have none-the-less!!
You are giving your daughters a wonderful life-long gift, Nici. To know where their food comes from, and care about it, is one of the best things a parent can do. In case Margot likes to read about gardens, too, I have some wonderful kid books suggestions:
* The Curious Garden by Peter Brown (one of our favorite books ever)
* Jack’s Garden by Henry Cole
* The Gardener by Sarah Stewart
And I am sure you know The Carrot Seed, but that’s such a gem, too.
Nice blog with nice picture of cutie enjoying in the garden. It was nice going through your blog.
Ellie, Thanks so much for the book recs! We don’t have one of those!
The last pic with Margot by her front yard veggie garden reminds me so much of all the front yard food plots that have sprung up here in Portland (I’m technically in Vancouver, but I do all my non-home living in Portland). My parents were up for my birthday this weekend and we spent two evenings wandering neighborhoods and checking out what everyone has growing. I love it SO MUCH that this movement is catching on! My parents were growing fruits and veggies on the roof and in the parking lot of their business warehouse in downtown Oakland in the 70s. They were trendsetters (ok… hippies… potato, potahto 🙂
Virgin Harvest update:
soil blocks, germination mats, and grow lights were a HUGE success – almost too much so. our spring was so late and long and cold and wet here that my baby plants were ready to go out long before mother nature would allow it. When I finally moved them out, a surprise late frost hit 24 hours later! They all looked pretty sad after that, but 9 of the 12 tomatoes made it through and are huge and strong and have fruit set earlier than any other year for me! I replaced they other 3 with new soil block babies and they are still catching up.
– no reports specifically on the Wild Boar Farms tomatoes yet as we only have green fruit, but they are thriving and I will keep you posted on flavor and success!
-straw bale garden is really coming into its own now that the rain has stopped and the seedlings have gotten ahead of the eleventy billion slugs that kept wiping them out.
Pictures and details, as always, at Lisa Has Chickens if anyone wants to take a peek.
Your blog is lovely as ever, Nici, keep it up 🙂