The conference last weekend was wonderful. One of my favorite parts was simply being in a room full of like-minded women. I saw so many babies snuggled up in slings and moms nursing their little ones. It was so lovely to be in this environment; there was a tangible feeling of support and camaraderie.
One of my favorite speakers was Vernie Demille. She runs an organization called MiniAg that helps families become more self-reliant by turning their backyards into mini-farms. She spoke on gardening with little children; I couldn't help but smile, listening to her charming ideas and uplifting perspective.
She first spoke about how we can let go of so many of the stressful things about gardening (weeds, bugs, weather, failed crops etc.) when we think of gardening as a partnership with God. Just look at the big picture (and don't get frustrated when beetles eat all your potato plants), and forgive everything that's beyond our control. Sounds like a pretty relaxing and enjoyable approach to me. I've noticed that when I regularly spend time in the garden, the feeling of being centered and grounded follows me into other areas of my life.
All of the talk about bettering ourselves through gardening was indeed uplifting and inspiring, however, I have to admit, the part I got really excited about was when she started talking about pole bean tipis!Vernie had all sorts of delightful ideas for making gardening magical for your kids. Her main point was, make it somewhere they want to be! Her ideas for child-friendly gardens ranged from bean tipis to growing unusually shaped, colored and sized veggies (like purple carrots and yard long beans) to pizza gardens, grape tunnels and sunflower houses. I don't know about you, but I want a sunflower house of my very own too!
images via here
