Years ago I dreamed that I would one day have grandchildren and have the pleasure of introducing them to and teaching them something about gardening. Along with the garden I would have a few farm animals and instill into those ‘grandbabies’ the concept of where our food comes from and how to care for God’s creatures, perhaps while gathering a few veggies and eggs along the way. I would spend time digging in the dirt with them, picking up worms and looking at bugs. Well, tonight around 7:30 p.m. it dawned on me that my dream had come true….not on a farm as I had envisioned, but in the back yard of my residential lot…my urban homestead, The Little House In Suburbia!
This evening after work I picked up my granddaughter, we went to dinner and then, at her request, came home to work in the garden. As I do almost every evening, I carried each of the chickens to their ‘playground,’ a fenced in area of the garden where the chickens tractor a section of the new garden bed… (as part of their room and board) …As I carried each one I would stop so that Ava could ever so sweetly pet and talk to them before I placed them in their run where they would hunt and peck and scratch until dusk. As she began to pet Frannie Frances, the Araucana chicken with the tufts of feathers around her ears, Ava exclaimed, “Mimi, I can see her ears right there behind her feathers!” I had never told her anything about the anatomy of the chicken, she noticed that all on her own! How many 6 year olds know what a chicken’s ear looks like or even where to look for it? Well, now Ava does!
Ava then began to fill up her little watering can and to water the peas and then the okra…she declared, “I like fried okra!” On her way down the garden aisle …”Whoops, sorry Mimi, I just tripped over your plant…oh look, is that a baby watermelon?” (Don’t worry, no watermelon was harmed in the making of this wonder-filled evening!) Next, she put on her Dora the Explorer garden gloves to do a little raking in the coop when spying a well-pecked corn cob….”Mimi, how do the chick chicks eat this little tiny corn on the cob?” I explained to her that it was a regular sized cob before the chickens got a hold of it! After that, it was time to harvest some veggies; two zucchini squash (one with a blossom attached and upon opening the blossom we found some little ants…she thought that was curiously awesome), one ‘Flying Saucer’ patty pan squash (that name made her laugh!), a Japanese eggplant with a tiny little hole in it that she had to examine closely (note to self, get a magnifying glass before Ava’s next visit), a gypsy pepper and a radish! She was disappointed that the carrots weren’t ready to be pulled when she shared, “I’ve never in my whole life (of 6 years) ever pulled out a carrot from the ground, ever!” She carried the bounty around in a market basket for a few minutes and then remembered that she hadn’t checked the coop for eggs. The Easter Egg Hunt was on..she hurried into the coop and gathered the 4 eggs from the nesting boxes…not even concerned a bit that she might get some poo on her shoes, …”Mimi, it’s OK if I get my shoes dirty…” well alrighty then…right into the coop she went… just like a real farm girl! Then into the house we went for a good soak in the tub!
What a great evening, seeing the garden through a child’s eyes….my granddaughter and I sharing a very special time together, a dreamy time for me, a learning experience for us both, a time that I hope will remain in her memory in the years to come when she conjures up “Mimi”… I know it will always remain in mine.
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out if I’m nurturing the plants and animals or are they nurturing me….? Maybe Ava can help me figure that out…
Gardening grows more than food…it grows love!
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