Tag Archives | garden

Seeds of Hope

By on March 27, 2011 in Busy Mom Living The Dream

Today was planting day.

I’ll begin this blog by reiterating that I’m in no way a gardening expert.  Not only do I lack knowledge and experience in the garden, I also reside in Southern Nevada where we’re not exactly known as the bread basket of the world.Toni Spilsbury Garden Seeds of Hope

So why grow a garden?

The answer is simple.

It’s something to share with my kids.  It’s shared time, shared work, shared wonder and shared fun.

Don’t get me wrong.  There’s some functionality in there as well.  Although I won’t anticipate enough tomatoes to can sauce for the winter, I can probably rely on some herbs to use in my cooking.

When the girls were a bit younger- just a year or two ago- they would hunt around the yard with little buckets and gather leaves, grass, berries and whatever else they could find and bring it to me in the kitchen while I was cooking.  I pretended to use it in our dinner.

Toni Spilsbury Garden Seeds of Hope

They got so much joy at the age of 3 and 5 by “harvesting” for our meal.  So I think of how much fun they’ll have doing it for real.

Toni Spilsbury Garden Seeds of Hope

So now the seeds are in the ground.  The next step?

Hope.

 

 

 

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A Bit of Earth

By on March 27, 2011 in Busy Mom Living The Dream

Now who could have imagined that pulling weeds and old vines could be so much fun.

It almost feels like some type of cleansing ritual- getting rid of the old to make way for Spring.

Spring, indeed, is almost here and we are prepared.  As we dig, pull, haul and hoe we talk about all the things we want to plant in our garden this year, which made me think about naming our garden.

The Hope Garden.  No.  That doesn’t sound at all confident enough.  We’ve put too much work and expectation into it this year.

The Victory Garden.  Well, that’s going a bit far.  To be honest, I don’t know a thing about real gardening.

Oh well, the right name will come, and so will the victory… of the fruits… of our hope.  The Hope Victory Garden?  To be continued.


 

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The Earth Is Generous To….

By on March 12, 2011 in Busy Mom Living The Dream

The earth is generous to those who know the land and its secrets.

What a great quote.

I wish I had someone to credit this great quote to, but, in fact, I heard it in the most random place.  It did get me thinking about my own home garden.

Well, I wouldn’t actually call it a garden.  It’s more like a well-intended plot with an adjacent potting bench, tools and equipment.  What’s that other saying?… the best intentions? 

Anyhow, I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about gardening; it’s merely been a place for the kids and I to have a little fun by plopping some seeds and plants into the dirt and hope for the best.

After hearing this today- “the earth is generous”- it made me go assess my “garden”.

It’s a disaster.  There’s no way the earth is going to be generous to me if this is the best I can do.  And so I wonder if I couldn’t just try to know it- and its secrets- a little better.

And how great would it be to pass down and share those secrets with my children.  It reminds me of the book Secret Garden– who could ever forget that famous line, “might I have a bit of earth?”  I was only 7 when I read that line and it’s depth was branded onto my soul.

Well, I do have a bit of earth.  Let’s see what I can do with it now.

Any hope?

 

 

 

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