Sunday, May 9, 2010

Gardening Mothers

This is dedicated to all mothers who garden with their children.  You are passing on knowledge and skills that could never be taught in a classroom.

You teach self-sufficiency when you grow food plants.
You teach appreciation for beauty when you grow flowers.
You teach forethought when you plan what to grow and when.
You teach compromise when there is not enough space for everything you want to grow.
You teach patience when you plant a seed that will one day grow into a tree.
You teach how to nurture and care for others when you grow young plants that need careful tending.
You teach discipline when the weeds must be pulled.
You teach cooperation when you work together to achieve your goal.
You teach decision-making skills when crops must be thinned or trees pruned.
You teach that hard work has its rewards when you harvest and eat your crops.

These are just a few of the immeasurable things a child learns while gardening.
Most of all, you are spending quality time with your child, getting to know each other better, and becoming friends.

This is dedicated to all mothers who garden, but especially to my own mother who gardens, and who taught me all these things.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

10 comments:

CK G said...

Absolutely spot on !

Ami said...

Nice Mother's Day dedication! Thanks!

NanaK said...

Nice sentiment. I never thought about all those things being involved in gardening. So true. Your mom must be proud of you. Nice rose BTW.

Susan said...

What a great post! Your mother will love it, as will all other moms who garden with their kids. How right you are!

Floridagirl said...

Such a nice tribute to mothers, especially your own, Grower Jim! I've always worried that I ruined my kids with pulling them out to help with garden chores. With oppressive heat and ridiculous weeding, Florida gardening is hard work. My kids truly hate it. But when my oldest bought his own house last year, he immediately set forth to gardening, planting blueberries and palms and fruit trees and lots of flowers...and loving it! I was truly amazed.

Eliza said...

Thanks! I feel like my Mother's Day extended to Monday now (since I caught this belatedly). I just thought I was having fun when my daughter and I garden together. :)

Anonymous said...

Lovely--thanks for writing this, Jim.

Diane at My Cottage Garden said...

That red rose is gorgeous! Such a 'rich' colour. Thanks for the advise on the newspapers under the mulch! I'll check your blog out further when I have a bit of time. Cheers from Canada.

ROUGH.ROSA said...

Beautiful words. Never thought a single act of planting a tree with my kids means so much more. It has always been just letting them play with the soil and all.

Thanks for putting my 'mom' perspective right!

Flower Donegal said...

Jim,
I just came across your lovely post.
I hail from Ireland and your beautiful words mean alot

Aanee xxx
flower delivery