When my daughter, Ann, was small (She’s thirty-three now.), we lived on horse property in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. The developer had visions of Kentucky, and gave us all white wooden corral fencing in the back fourth of our property. Of course, the homeowners had their own ideas. On one side of my house, my neighbor did have horses. But on the other, there was a putting green. Mine? Why a massive garden, of course.
The sides of the corral were perfect for grape vines. The back worked well for boysenberries. The fences helped tame both, while the plants added beauty, privacy and yummy fruit much of the year. In all the years we lived there, the boysenberries never made it into the house. They were rinsed off and devoured straight off the plants.
We also had a half dozen fruit trees, two kinds of apples, a cherry (not much fruit, since it didn’t really get cold enough), a plum, a lemon, an orange and a peach (which we eventually removed, since we could not keep ahead of the “volunteers”). Then, there was my cinder-block raised vegetable garden. It was about the size of a three car garage, complete with redwood arbor and a small paved area where we stored firewood. I used Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot Gardening method, and drip irrigation. It was no where near as much work as the fruit trees. They drove me a little crazy with all the thinning.
We also had a rose garden, with twenty four bushes, including three climbers. Roses take as much work as you have heard, but no one is able to convey the pleasure of cutting your own roses and placing them around the house in vases. The house was filled with fragrance almost all year long. In California, rose bushes do not have to be cut back to their canes to protect them from the cold. I’ve cut roses at Christmas.
I think with fewer trees, it wouldn’t have been so exhausting. It was really too much for a working mother of one, with a husband who preferred golfing with the neighbor to gardening. But we did enjoy the bounty. Every Sunday morning, my daughter and I would take a large basket and a pair of shears up into the garden. We snipped and pulled and collected what we ate that morning. It became a tradition and filled her childhood with happy memories of Sunday breakfast in the dining room, over looking the bird feeder and bird bath. I think her love of fruit and vegetables began in the garden.
There is an epidemic of childhood obesity in America, but not in my family. My daughter, and her two boys, Mike and Nick, have never been over weight. Neither have I. We think vegetables taste better than fried foods and all those other less healthy options out there. They do, you know. All the studies show that children who eat more fruit and vegetables are healthier and do better in school. They grow to be healthier eaters as adults too. Other studies make it clear that kids who are involved in the growing of fruit and vegetables are more willing, even eager to eat them. Any bargaining going on at the dinner table in our homes is the reverse of most. “You can eat another bite of carrots (or peas, orange slices, etc) after you have had a bite of turkey or mack and cheese.”
This past Friday, my grandsons spent the night. We went to Mimi’s Café for dinner, as a treat. That was the exact conversation we had at the dinner table. The next morning, before orange/cranberry juice and French toast smothered with sliced fresh strawberries, we went outside to water my condo garden. We took the trowel and carrot and marigold seeds with us. The boys planted carrots and marigolds and watered the plants. This is always a wonderful time. Kids’ minds are open when they are occupied with some physical task. The younger boy, Nick, looked up as he was watering the zucchini plant and asked, “Grandma, we planted the seeds far apart so they won’t steal water from each other, right?” Always thinking!
As a parent, grand parent and teacher, I can tell you that there is no downside to gardening with children. As long as you do not make it seem like a chore, and as long as they get to eat what they grow, it’s all upside. When my daughter was too little to help in the garden, I introduced her to vegetables in the supermarket. While she sat in the seat in the shopping cart, we went into the produce department. You know how people say, “If you are good, I’ll let you pick out a candy to take home?” Well, I did that in the produce department. “You can pick one, but only one. So be sure it’s something you really want!” Sneaky, right? When she was old enough for pre-school, I discovered that snack time was crackers and the like. I started letting her select a vegetable to take for snack. Sometimes, we cut up zucchini or carrots into coins and sent along a tub of cheese spread for dipping. The teachers were shocked that the kids gobbled them down, and asked for more. No one had told them yet that vegetables were “yucky”.
Let kids pick a new kind of veggie or fruit from the store, farmers’ market or garden. Let them plant what they want. They will develop a taste for them and be more adventurous in their eating habits. They will enjoy the taste of fresh fruit and vegetables, and not need to fry them or drown them in unhealthy sauces. My grandsons prefer raw fruit and vegetables to cooked ones. As you may have read in the press or online, there is a movement afoot to promote eating “real” food. Non-processed, non-adulterated, unpackaged food has become a movement. How bizarre is that? It’s a shame that it is necessary, but what a fabulous idea. Let’s make it cool to grow, buy, and eat real live fruit and vegetables. Let’s start with the kids.
Until next time,
Elizabeth
