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Quote of the Day: Lee May

September 27th, 2009

A child who learns from gardening is a child who is unlikely to robotically walk around with dead eyes.

-Lee May
Little_hand_with_flower
I grew up gardening, when I was younger we grew most of our own food. To be honest I hated gardening when I was young, most of the time. I liked picking interesting things to plant out of the catalogues, my mom always let us pick fun stuff, like blue corn or blue potatoes.

Do you think gardening is good for kids, for those of you with kids, how do you get yours involved and interested in gardening?

9 Comments to “Quote of the Day: Lee May”
  1. Heather on September 27, 2009 at 7:58 am

    I grew up with a gardening mother as well. I also didn’t like it back then, and swore I’d never have a garden. Then we had kids and bought a house and now I’m addicted. My own kids are not very interested most of the time. My daughter likes to help more than my son. We go through the catalogs together and they pick out neat stuff to plant as well. Right now, I just want to expose them to it. Someday they’ll be more interested.
    .-= Heather´s last blog ..Getting started =-.

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  2. Lisa@The Cutting Edge of Ordinary on September 27, 2009 at 8:29 am

    I grew up in a family that always gardened. 3/4 of our yard was garden. I never really thought about wether or not I was going to plant a garden, it was just something I knew I was going to do. My kids help me all the time. Unlike a lot of other kids, mine are limited to the amount of time they have access to the computer and video games, so the rest of the time, it’s outside to bask in the sunshine and get to work! They really like it.
    .-= Lisa@The Cutting Edge of Ordinary´s last blog ..Grated Apple Pie with Streusel Topping =-.

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  3. Lee on September 27, 2009 at 8:47 am

    We planted a bean teepee for the kids to play in with the hopes that it would intrigue them (and maybe they’d eat some beans in the process).

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  4. KitsapFG on September 27, 2009 at 11:00 am

    We also gardened when I was growing up but my parents did not enjoy it – it was a necessity because of the large sized family and scarcity of money. Since they did not enjoy it and because the children were considered “farm help” – it does not bring back any good memories other than being required to work and dealing with crabby parents at the same time. There was no teaching or knowledge gained – just weeding, planting seeds, and harvesting to be done. When I moved out into my first rental home, I felt compelled to have a small vegetable patch and applied myself to the effort. Now I was doing it because I wanted to and not because I was forced to. I had modest success with my first gardens and found I enjoyed it. The rest is history. I have had a garden all of my adult life and my passion for it continues to grow with each passing year. My daughter enjoys the garden but only peripherally. She volunteers to help when the harvesting and preserving is at it’s peak and we use the time to visit and laugh while we work. A huge difference from the slave like toil I remember from my youth. If she seems less than enthusiastic if I request help, then I don’t push it. She loves the food from the garden and wanders out while I am working and visits – occassionally asking questions. I would be willing to bet she has her own garden someday too.

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  5. stefaneener on September 27, 2009 at 5:00 pm

    My husband grew up like kitsapFG, and learned nothing and hated it all. He still does. I had no gardening background but was internally compelled to grow — still am.

    My children are pretty ho-hum about it all but they like to eat and pick to different degrees. In fact, my children are bored to tears with all I do, from making yogurt and keeping chickens and bees to homemade bread and knitting.

    I assume that some day they will appreciate it. Their friends and their friends’ parents sure do now!
    .-= stefaneener´s last blog ..Saving Eggs =-.

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  6. Pampered Mom on September 27, 2009 at 6:37 pm

    Since we firmly believe that little kids learn best by imitation we focus on having them present when we’re doing our various gardening tasks. Sometimes they’ll be immensely interested. Other times they’ll be busy doing something else. Mostly they’ll come help, head off to play, come back and help, etc.
    .-= Pampered Mom´s last blog ..Fantastic Vintage Finds =-.

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  7. deedee on September 27, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    we grew up with a garden that was more like a jungle! so i totally hated it … but loved the food from it! now that i’m older i’m working on getting back into the gardening mode… my kids will probably hate it too, and then love it later in life!

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  8. Holley on September 27, 2009 at 11:06 pm

    I have made a garden teepee for my son (4yo). He is the only one who gets to pick the beans and peas that are growing up it. I also send him out in the garden to pick what he would like for dinner. At first he would come back with fistfuls of smashed lettuce (which we of course ate!) but now he digs up potatoes or picks tomatoes or brings in the Kale or other veggies with hardly a bruise. We then all make dinner together with his harvest. He ABSOLUTELY loves it! As do I!

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  9. annie avery on October 1, 2009 at 9:02 am

    i grateful to join this crowd by saying that i was born with my hands meant to stay covered in soil, my feet planted on Mother, and my soul attached to gaia. everywhere i ever lived, and it’s been many cities and locations, i have always put a small garden, be it veggies, perennials, or trees. a friend of mine the other day repeated a quote to me; paraphrasing: “where a man has put a garden, he remains attached to that plot forever.? i love that and it defines my life to this day, ..

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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