Flower Child!

Natasha my Flower Child! Nothing can stop my daughter from gardening...having a broken foot or nine months pregnant is no deterrent!
And, it's not unusual for her to garden with a child in her back-pack or front pack.

Natasha is my middle child. She would always follow me into the garden as a very small girl. She loved the feel of the dirt on her hands and the satisfaction of planting seeds, watching them grow and then harvesting their bounty. I'm wondering if the love of gardening is inherent or learned. All I know is that despite exposing my other two children to gardening they do not share this same passion. Where does this fascination with the earth and growing plants come from?

I think, in my case, this love of the land came from my dad. He loved to grow things in our fields in Pennsylvania. My earliest memories are of weeding the asparagus patch. I was about five and I distinctly remember going down row by row clearing the weeds from the asparagus and feeling so proud to have freed the asparagus from its forest of weeds. The asparagus could now clearly be viewed like tiny, green, upright soldiers all in a row.

My other strong memory is of our strawberry patch which was directly in back of our barn. We would hire local kids to pick the strawberries. Some of these kids were neighbors that I knew. It was thrilling to see all the baskets filled to the brim with bright red strawberries. We also grew potatoes, corn, and celery.

One year after my dad had turned the earth to reveal the hidden potatoes he had also uncovered a nest of baby mice. Don't worry they were left undisturbed and after we observed them we gently returned the cover to their home. What a learning experience! I also learned how to dust off the potatoes stored in the barn and eat them raw. This provided us with a nice little snack when we were too busy playing to take time to go into the house. To this day I still love to eat raw potatoes with a little salt.

After all this reflecting on the growing days of summer I am reminded that winter winds are blowing and rain is pouring in blinding sheets. I long for warm days and the feel of the earth between my fingers. I also long for fresh flowers, fruit and vegetables on my table. I miss canning fruit and vegetables....Heck, I even miss pulling the weeds that are sprouting up everywhere. Hurry up SPRING!