Just like it's never too early to get them cooking, kids are never too young to start gardening! Nora absolutely loved planting peas, nasturtiums, green onions, italian parsley, cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower and beets. I prepped the containers and the beds with the soil and made the holes or trenches for the seeds. Then Nora picked them out of my hand and dropped them in the holes, saying 'bye-bye' to each one. I don't know if she understood what she was doing, but I'm hoping by the summer, when we start watching the plants grow and then we eat them, she might make the connection.No matter what she learned, we had such a fun-filled family day. The warm sun beating on our backs, the cool soil on our hands, the cats rolling on the sidewalk. Not only were we all outside getting things done, but so were all the neighbours. Nora loves to say 'hi' to everyone and watch the bikes go by.
Urban agriculture is a big topic these days, but like organic farming, it's really just the way it's always been. Home gardens used to be the norm, just like farming without all of the chemicals. But we've become so removed from it over the last 60 years, that there has to be a 'movement' to get it back. The difference now is we have a choice. We don't have to grow our own food...we can easily buy it all at the supermarket. But, it's part of the sustainability movement to do our share and grow some food (or at least try).
Food you grow yourself tastes amazing because it's so fresh. You eat more veggies and fruit because they are right at your fingertips. And what a sense of satisfaction when you create something on the journey from dirt to fork. Gardening is also a continual learning experience...well I'm a beginner so maybe that's just my perspective. But I would imagine that in 40 years, when I'm retired and have a huge garden, I will still be learning from mother nature every season.
Kids can learn so much from gardening...the life cycle in progress every day. And the ability to grow your own food is a skill that will last a lifetime. Who knows if the point may come when it's not a choice any longer, but a necessity to grow your own food, like it was a century ago. I want Nora to have that skill and an appreciation of nature. She already loves the outdoors. And she loves helping her parents...for now anyway:)
Kids also eat more veggies and fruit if they are involved in the growing, harvesting and processing of them. Or that's the anecdotal evidence coming out of school garden programs. I'll let you know what happens with my personal experiment by the end of the summer....
