In The Garden

       We spent the larger portion of last Sunday out under the Okanagan sun helping my Mom plant the 2013 garden- this year the Littles have their very own spot marked off. With Momo's help the Littles planted potatoes, pumpkins, carrots and beans.

      We only have so much room on our deck in the city so for the kids to be able to go and actually dig in the dirt and learn how things grow from their Grandma is ever so important- it will be such fun to watch them dig up their potato hills next fall! So delicious to roast them next fall and know these potatoes were planted by their hands on a fine Spring day.

      I have so many fond memories of my own Grandma in her garden- it was the biggest garden I had ever seen- she came from a generation that needed to control their food source- a generation who had survived the depression and war- a generation that knew what it meant to go with out. My grandma's garden seemed to be able to feed us all if need be.

      I think so many folks these days take their food sources for granted- they take food security for granted- the availability of cheep, easy food is so common place these days. Collectively as a nation I think that we don't remember what a life with out butter, sugar or tea is- therefor food has become less special.

       My hope for my children- for all children really- is that society is starting to wake up- to recognize the importance of self-sustainability- even just a little bit- in our food supply. My wish is that they will learn from their Grandparents what it means to be part of something bigger- part of an extended family, part of a village, part of the cycle of the growing season. My wish is for my babies to recognize the stink of manure, the wriggle of a juicy earth worm and the sting on their shoulders of the season's first sunburn. I wish for them to learn patience by watching their food grow.

“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world. ” 

― Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals