This was the saying on my flip calendar this morning:

“Kids who garden are more likely to eat their vegetables.” ~ Author Unknown

This is my saying after reading that saying:

“Kids who garden are more likely to eat their vegetables while in the garden.” ~ Me

Since my kids do have regular garden time to help with weed control, it is a delight to see one of them weeding in the bean patch and picking beans to eat while working. Or pulling a carrot out of the ground, brushing the dirt off of it, and sticking it in their mouth. Or shucking peas into their hands to eat. Or picking spinach leaves off a plant to nibble. Can you get any fresher produce than that which has been sun kissed and loaded with vitamins as you sit next to it on the garden path?

Gardening is a tradition that has been passed down through the generations in my family. I can still vividly picture walking through my grandma’s garden as a little girl as well as my mom’s gardens through the years. Not only were we blessed with fresh vegetables, but the abundance got canned and eaten through the winter months.

The tradition has continued as I began my own garden the first year I was married and I haven’t missed a summer despite pregnancies, new babies, and a summer without a kitchen. The kids have grown up in my garden learning to plant seeds, pull weeds, thin plants, hoe the dirt, pick the rocks, water the rows, chase the bunnies, and finally, to harvest the crops. It’s been a summer hands-on learning experience without a book visible. Not only have they learned about the art of gardening, but they’ve learned lessons about responsibility, commitment, perseverance, and hard work, to name a few.

Will the tradition continue as they grow up and leave home? Time will tell. My daughter-in-law was here during early June when I began planting the garden and was excited to get on her hands and knees to work in the garden. And my granddaughter ran in and out and around in the soft newly tilled dirt at the same time. A new generation already learning about a garden. Perhaps this quote speaks to the question the best:

“Even if she forgets the whole thing in her teens, later still, when she is grown up and has a first garden of her own, some misty memory of the pleasure of growing things will give her a headstart over the gardener without any background, just as children who have spoken a second language, and forgotten it, can pick it up again in later years.” ~ Anne Scott-James

Just as I hope my love for gardening will be like a second language to my children, my prayer is even greater that my faith will be passed on as well. May my years of planting, weeding, hoeing, and watering their lives through God’s love and with His word bring forth a fruitful harvest now and in the generations to come! And isn’t that really the heart of the matter?

Married in 1980 and still living in the same house in a woodsy rural setting, Tammy’s homeschooling journey began in the fall of 1987 when her oldest turned six years old. As rather new believers professing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, homeschooling was a way to live out the principles found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Through all the challenges of life Tammy has stayed the course growing to a family with nine children who presently range from preschool age to college graduates married with children. Her role has transitioned from learning everything she could about homeschooling to becoming an encourager to others coming along the way. Please visit Tammy at Garden Glimpses.