Living and learning...in the garden

I guess I have some fairly unusual ideas of what constitutes an "education". I don't necessarily agree that having someone "teach" bits and pieces of disconnected information - a curriculum - to a child makes for a proper education. I don't believe that this makes for a "smarter" person...or for a more "successful" life (and I certainly don't agree with our society's definition of success). For my children, it has always been more important to me that they learn about things in context as much as possible - to learn through living and doing. I think of my children (as well as myself) as life-long learners and so I feel no need to make sure the years from age 5 to 18 are taken up with filling them full of information that someone else has deemed necessary. In general, it seems to me that a little more priority placed on learning "real" things wouldn't be a bad idea - common-sense (not so common anymore), practical, real-life things like an awareness of, and respect for, the natural world (which most of our ancestors came by naturally). So, while some parents might thrill that their kids have memorized the periodic table, aced a test in algebra or are able to recite one of Shakespeare's sonnets I tend to find pleasure in different things (although I do love Shakespeare). The other day E was out in the garden and I mentioned to him that he might want to check if he needed to weed his garden bed. He went to have a look, pulled a few things and then told me that the remaining tiny sprouts were lamb's quarter and he would leave those to grow so he could eat them. I went over to have a look and sure enough, he had identified some tiny sprouts as the lamb's quarter that we had eaten often in the past. I said that I was impressed that he could recognize them when they were so small and he told me that it was because they had a bit of a silvery look to the leaves - this made it easy for him to identify. Can I tell you how pleased this makes me? That an 8 year old can recognize wild foods when they are tiny. I really don't see what can be a more essential part of an "education" than how to get or grow our own food. Really...I see it as essential. Vital. How far would we get in life without food?

I often wonder how different schools would be if every one of them had a huge garden in the schoolyard, if every child had the opportunity to dig in the dirt, observe the insects and other critters and taste the products of their own work. I'm so pleased to hear that some schools are starting programs like this and I hope that the children taking part are given the chance to "just be" in the garden. I think there is a lot to be learned when we have the chance to just be.

Victory Gardens

I am a big fan of Victory gardens; I find them to be a very inspiring example of what can be done and what has been done when necessary, I would like to see more of these gardens just because...not because we need to but because we want to. I came across this link to the 100 foot diet (or Victory garden) this morning on the Path to Freedom sight, this is a very inspiring family from California. I think it is worth a watch.

Beauty

Oh how I love my columbines. And, I love gardening quotes too. Thought I would share some of each today.

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. UrbanI never had any other desire so strong, and so like to covetousness, as that one which I have had always, that I might be master at last of a small house and a large Garden. ~Abraham Cowley, The Garden, 1666It is utterly forbidden to be half-hearted about gardening. You have got to love your garden whether you like it or not. ~W.C. Sellar & R.J. Yeatman, Garden Rubbish, 1936 (hee, hee) It takes a while to grasp that not all failures are self-imposed, the result of ignorance, carelessness or inexperience. It takes a while to grasp that a garden isn't a testing ground for character and to stop asking, what did I do wrong? Maybe nothing. ~Eleanor Perényi, Green Thoughts, 1981 (this one, I think, is a good lesson for all of life, not just the garden)Gardeners, I think, dream bigger dreams than emperors.~Mary Cantwell

Isn't that one above such a beautiful colour? It is the softest shade of dusky mauve. And can you see the little critter in this one below? So many wonders in the garden.

Roots and shoots

I love seeing plants send out roots and shoots. Yesterday I was planting some more beans and pulling a few weeds out of the bean bed; I found this little one and only noticed what it was after I had ripped it out.It looks like a peach tree to me. I called the boys over to show them and instead of admiring its beauty, they asked me why I didn't plant it. I like the way the inside bit of the peach pit looks so much like an almond.Anyway, W took it off somewhere and planted it. They come by this honestly as they know that I have such a hard time tossing baby plants in the compost bin. Then when I was planting more cukes I found this.We often have walnut trees springing up and I have no problem ripping them out, but this year, when I actually wanted a walnut tree for a friend, I have had a hard time finding any (I think it is because our dog has done such a good job of eating all the one we didn't pick up). I tucked this one into a pot just in case someone wants it.

Love that chocolate

Not that I think plain dark chocolate has any need to be improved upon but every once in a while I like to make these chocolate treats for my boys. They are quick and easy and chock-full of good stuff.

All I do is melt some of the Rancho Vignola dark chocolate chips that I have stored in the freezer and then add whatever fruits and nuts we like. This time I added our homegrown walnuts, some coconut and Rancho Vignola raisins, dried apricots and hemp seeds.

I mix the fruit and nuts into the melted chocolate and then drop the mixture by spoonfuls onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Put them into the freezer for a bit to set and then they are ready.

Testing, testing, one, two, peas??

I have one very long bed that I usually plant peas in. I start mid-March and continue for about a month and a half so that we will have fresh peas for awhile. I usually do at least a double row on each side of the wire support that lines one side of this bed. Still, I rarely get many of these since my pea-lovin' son tends to go out first thing and eat them each morning. This Spring I was reading Dick Raymonds' Gardening Year and he suggested that peas don't need to be planted against a support, that you can plant them in blocks and they will mostly support each other. I wanted to test that theory out because then I would be able to grow peas anywhere without the need for support and it would also make rotation easier. (I tend to always plant my peas in the same place just because I already have the sturdy support in place)Here is my test block about 10 days ago and here it is today. We will see how it works.

If they do hold up well I can see that we might have a lot more peas next year.

Since I tend to get a tiny bit carried away with talk (and pictures) of gardening, I thought I would post most of my flower pictures over here and keep this blog for veggie gardening. (until I bore everyone there with too many flower pictures and then have to start posting them here) ;-)

Tree Peony

When we moved to this house we fell in love with the huge tree peony up front. It has been slowing dying over the years but it still manages to give some gorgeous blooms. When I was pregnant with E my midwife suggested that I choose an image to focus on for labour. I thought the peony blossom would be perfect - the buds are so tight and closed but within days they open so fully and beautifully. It's a good image to use when your goal is the opening of your cervix. Anyway, my labours are so fast that I don't really get time to use any kind of image or focus on anything other than the fact that I am having a baby - Now!!
But, every time I look at this tree peony in bloom it reminds me of being pregnant with E, so that is a pretty lovely thing to focus on too.