This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Garden Tradition Teaches Life Lessons

Welcome to our weekly column written by a Mom, for Moms and about Moms.

Tomatoes do not come from a mega market.  Neither do peaches, cucumbers, honey, eggs or cheese. Or milk.  These are the lessons I’ve taught my kiddos from the very start. 

Good, wholesome food is grown, nurtured and cultivated by people and comes from the earth. Important stuff to know, I think.  Sure, it’s convenient to buy our food at a store but it’s essential that my kids know how it got to that store.

Recently, as we’ve done for the previous three years, my 4-year old twins and I bought seeds–squash, tomato, peas, kale and broccoli, to name a few. We planted the seeds in egg cartons and placed them in a sunny spot in our kitchen. Together we’ve watered them every day.  A couple days ago a tiny green head popped out of the dirt to say hello. The kids were thrilled. (And so was I!) 

Find out what's happening in Douglasvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In a month or so we'll transplant the seedlings into cups, then some will go into large colorful pots (actually, funky garbage cans from Ikea) on our back deck and others will be transplanted into our small backyard garden. They will thrive in the Georgia heat and sun, and we’ll check on them everyday and talk about the yummy meals we’ll create with our bounty.

This is a tradition that we look forward to every year. It instills many good habits such as caring for a living thing, being patient and problem solving however the biggest bonus is that since they've understood from an early age where food comes from, they have an appreciation for it and that it takes a lot of hard work and patience to create the meals that we eat.  

Find out what's happening in Douglasvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?