Black and White Garden #2: Pictures

Looking good! And so what if it’s not all green…at least you can dig in your dirt! It’s frozen up here… :-(

-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit

lol this is true I love bulbs, I just hate waiting for them to pop up…its always worth it though

Some bulbs start sprouting a bit sooner than others…

-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit

Yah, I am with Damocles and Deb P … at least you are not living in a “frozen wasteland” at the moment. What I would give to be able to “dig” a little bit!

Honestly though … great start!!!

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

The joy of gardening and farming is the “end result” that you have to wait for. I think we need to teach our children gardening skills because the rest of their lives are filled with immediate gratification.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

I believe there is a little of both in gardening … there is a lot of “instant gratification” in gardening. For instance when we create a new bed out of nothing, a simple weeding, newly tilled beds with rows upon rows of mounded earth … I could go on and on. Each one of these tasks, when completed creates a feeling of “instant gratification”. You can stand back, when done, and SEE what you have done; the change that has taken place. But then there also is that “end result” ... seeing all your hard work come full circle, plants thriving, flowers/shrubs/trees in full bloom, vegetable gardens full of tasty delights.

Simple example is remembering back to elementary school when we all planted the “pea or bean pods”. What an accomplishment we felt as we filled the cup with dirt, planted the seed and watered it. Immediate gratification. Then patience set in as we waited, watched, watered, made sure the sunlight was good till one day … a plant emerged.

Teaching our children to garden allows them to see how a bit of hard work can be immediately rewarding and there for everyone to see; but also creates patience in them as they wait to see the new life that they planted, took daily care of; emerge and thrive.

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

that’s a good point because our children (many of them that I work with) don’t celebrate or even see the baby steps of success, they don’t enjoy “the moments” and are just seeking that big reward.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

For the past two years I have taken my niece to the local nursery for her birthday and she picks out whatever she wants (side note, she has me so tightly wound around her finger its not even funny, but she doesn’t take advantage of it) through her I have discovered so many plants that I would have never thought I’d buy, thats how I got my roses, I thought if I six year isn’t itimidated by them…why should I be. But this year, growing the pumpkins with the kids, that was amazing to plant the seed, and see it sprout, and then the end result of having that pumpkin and carving it and taking the seeds to do the whole thing again next year. Thats a better memory then any toy I could buy them, or any tv show we could watch together…

Those will be memories that both you, Erin and your niece will carry, together, forever. It’s good to get children gardening young.

It’s funny, my own children were introduced to gardening young … we would each summer, like Erin, pick out a plant or two and watch it grow together. Out of my three, it is my boys that really carry “my love of gardening”. I used to kid my flower loving … oh I can’t get dirty and there are BUGS in the dirt … daughter about how she better marry herself a “gardening man” cuz her mama isn’t going to “do” two yards (even though I totally would). LOL!!! Anyway, sure enough … she did!!!

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

how special.:)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)