Vegetables and Family Togetherness

I’m having a baby any day! While I’m busy nesting enjoy the following guest post from Infinite Learners’ contributer Laura-Jeanne Lehr of Tales of Infinite Learning. She is a finalist in The Next Top Spiritual Author. Check her out and be sure to vote! She’s amazing!

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I have dreamed of planting a vegetable garden in my backyard for the past few years but always felt it was too big of a project to take on myself. Despite my already overflowing schedule, I was determined to plant vegetables this year no matter what.

I did my research and realized it would be easiest (said with a laugh) to dig up the existing grass and plant right into the ground. I eagerly set out with shovel in hand but after an hour of work and only a few feet of grass removed, I wondered if I was insane to take on this challenge by myself.

I grew up on a farm and my boys are now growing up in a city. I want my children to experience growing their own food. I want them to see nature in action and have that feeling of satisfaction as they pull the fruits of their labor (or vegetables, in this case) out of the ground. So, I kept digging, determined to make this dream a reality.

It became a real family project. My boys were not all that keen with the hard labor (and at times, neither was I), but I focused on my vision and used that for motivation. When the boys were less enthusiastic (translation: complaining a lot), I talked of how great it would be to eat our fresh food and the only way to get there was to do the work. My oldest remarked that eating the food was going to be a LOT more fun than preparing the garden!

We dug out the grass, hauled it away, shoveled, hoed and worked compost into the soil. We were exhausted, but as it came time to actually plant the seeds an incredible energy took over. We pulled the different seeds out of their packets and were surprised at how something so small could produce our favorite foods in such a short time. Everyone was asking for more seeds, eager to place them in their designated home in the soil. It was one of those unexpected, delightful moments that I love so much as a mom.

The garden is in and as the rain pours down on our little seeds, we feel a great sense of accomplishment. We are all guessing what will poke through the ground first and delighted to taste the rewards of our labor.

I love that I am teaching my boys more about the Earth, food and nature. I love that we worked together and made a dream into reality. And I love that we are moving closer to being a more sustainable family.

I cannot wait to taste our vegetables and see what other gifts we will reap from what we have sown.

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Laura-Jeanne Lehr is a single, homeschooling mother of two. She is a writer, life coach and mediator. She is currently writing a book about relationships. Laura-Jeanne writes a life coaching blog: Guided Solutions and an unschooling blog.

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Tagged as: diy, family, guest post, learning, sustainability