Friends, I am so excited to announce the beginning of a brand new adventure here at the farm. I have the opportunity to do some very casual teaching, and because I am the luckiest girl alive, it’s a whole semester about gardening!! Probably the only everyday conversation I enjoy more than running, ha!
Our dear friends Brad & Meredith have trusted me with their teenaged daughter Maddie to learn as much as possible about plant sciences, and already she and I feel like a semester is just not enough. For a few weeks now we have been brainstorming, plotting, and planning all kinds of stuff. From edibles to herbs and wild, Tim-Burton-style flower gardens, ideas abound. (Maddie is a proficient make-up artist and loves the deep colors and high drama of this aesthetic. Think… Alice in Wonderland, translated to the Oklahoma landscape!)
Our current plan is to meet every Thursday for at least nine weeks, and in that time we have a long list of learning to accomplish plus quite a wish-list of projects to tackle.
Already in the first two Thursdays Maddie and I have dug up a soil sample from her prospective flower garden and delivered it for chemical evaluation at the County Extension office; we met her sweet gardening grandma for lunch and talked all about irises and much more then visited the Crystal Bridge in downtown OKC; and at home she has been tending a pot of mesclun seedlings (which she named David Bowie since they germinated right at his passing) as well as carrots growing in plastic soda bottles. Today we plotted her compost heap and discussed, among other wonderful things, plant folklore, Rose Rosette’s Disease, and the difference between annuals and perennials. It’s been a solid beginning, if perhaps slow compared to how busy we will be once the growing really starts.
On a personal level, it’s been eye-opening to answer gardening questions here and there… Things that makes me pause to make sure I really know the answer and am not just guessing, and moments when I want to be encouraging of her ideas but also realistic. Sometimes we harbor little pockets of knowledge that feel automatic or are maybe difficult to articulate, you know? And you know how strongly I feel about positive thinking and belief. I would hate to dampen her enthusiasm on anything this early. The thing is, Oklahoma has her fair share of challenges. Maddie’s main gardening focus will be a curved flower bed on the south side of her family’s brick home, so she is about to find out how brutal Oklahoma growing can be, haha! Send her happy thoughts. : )
On an even deeper personal level, starting this little teaching adventure has been bittersweet because my own girls’ homeschooling has been so far removed from me. That’s a painful topic, but I can hardly overlook it. Sometimes life is circular in ways we could never predict.
I will periodically share our learning-teaching-gardening adventure here and hope you’ll follow along. Maddie might even do a little writing of her own to share with you fine folks, beginning with a short story imitating Native American plant folklore. She really got hooked by that today. Thanks ahead of time for your encouragement and positive vibes!
In every gardener there is a child who believes in The Seed Fairy.
~Robert Brault
(and this is exactly where my throat tightens up so hard I can barely breathe.)
XOXOXOXO
Thank you so much for taking on the task of gardening with Maddie! It makes my heart so happy knowing a love for nature is being nurtured in my lovely granddaughter because of your efforts. Priceless! Also, your blog is so well written!
oh you are very very sweet, thank you! I am having such fun with her. Last night I started thinking hard, hoping beyond just brainstorms that a year from now we can look back and say with confidence that not only did she grow a satisfying garden, but she also LEARNED stuff.
This is awesome! I love that you are sharing your garden wisdom with others. I’m really looking forward to updates so that I can learn vicariously, lest I grow a 6-foot tall sunflower where okra ought to be again this year.
Thanks for your enthusiasm!! I remember El Generalissimo fondly and hope he makes a reappearance this summer. haha : )) Stay tuned! This will be VERY hands-on.