Growing Your Children: The Virtuous Garden

Nature not only nourishes bodies to grow, but ongoing active engagement with nature can provide your children with valuable lessons that serve them throughout their life.

Given the opportunity to watch a movie, play video games or go outside to play, many kids are opting for the fast-moving visually stimulating options available indoors.  As developmental psychologist Douglas Gentile points out, these options come with their own set of challenges.

Life is about balance so while I don’t encourage you to label any of the activities as “bad”, there are some fundamental gains your child can experience by encouraging them to step outside the home into the great outdoors.

Gardening offers your children a tangible way to interact with nature, which can grow food and your children’s value system.

How to Grow Children > through Gardening

Planning: Planning is the first step towards gardening. This stage is the “goals” stage, where children understand that activities with intent lead to better results. Together you can decide where the garden should go, the purpose of having the garden, what supplies are needed and the timeframe the project will require. These skills will serve children through school and even into adulthood.

Teachable moment > have fun finding your child’s best method for planning. Everyone is different! Some children are visual and may prefer to draw out their plans. Others may be more technical and prefer writing a plan. Still some may have a spontaneous nature and prefer to create a general idea and follow their intuition. This stage can help you and your children learn about each other’s style and create an appreciation for the process of creation.

Working: Next you begin the work. This stage is where your child will learn respect. In a time where it seems like people and projects are “overnight successes”, garden work can provide a real-life experience at the true nature of nature > every great achievement requires some commitment and work. This experience will translate into a sense of respect for the earth that provides the nourishment, the food they eat and the work that people and nature put into creating healthy, life-giving food.

Teachable moment > the working stage is a great opportunity to share about the importance of the environmental movement going on, why respecting the earth will yield a better future for them and future generations. Share on practices that nourish the earth and discuss fun ways to increase your level of ‘green’ living as a family! 

Growing: The process of growing is essential. The methodical growing process will challenge impatience and teach commitment. Your child’s enthusiasm will hopefully grow as they see the plant begin to take shape. It’s the appreciation for these inbetween steps that really grows your child, teaching them patience, dedication and the importance of the inbetween steps.

Teachable moment > the soil is key for growing fruits and vegetables that are life-giving. Utilize this opportunity to teach children about the roots of the plant, how they pull nutrients from the soil and then create fruits and vegetables that nourish the body.

Harvesting: Every goal worth having provides a reward. It’s important to honor the rewards phase in life just as much as we honor the work. Such is the case with gardening, where gathering the fruits (or vegatables) of your labor will provide the payoff for all of the planning and work that went into creating the food. This is a tremendous stage of gratitude. Each bite of produce will taste sweeter with the understanding of all of it required to create harvest.

Teachable moment > Fine tune the process of harvesting by teaching your children about live enzymes, eating food soon after it’s harvested and proper food storage to maintain the integrity of the plant food.

Change: The changing of the seasons, and of what you choose to plant, will teach your kids the importance of change within life. Just as nature demonstrates, change is an absolutely essential part of participating in nature. Different seasons yield different opportunities for growing. By taking the time to review the seasons, understand what properties create a season and which produce to grow during each time, you’ll teach your children the importance of adapting in life, viewing situations based on their unique elements and even the importance of continuing to evolve throughout their life.

Teachable moment > eating regionally and seasonally provides you and your family with produce that yields higher nutritional content. Discuss the importance of seasonal eating, take a field trip to the local farmers market and even create a family recipe book for each season based on the produce you are growing in your garden!

Contact Dr. Dees: 978-443-3039 or DrDees@comcast.net

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Karen Spencer Dees, Ph.D.

Karen Spencer Dees, Ph.D.
Board Certified Holistic Nutrition
www.karenspencerdees.com
http://opp.sunrider.com/DrKarenSpencerDees/
978-443-3039