A Romantic Idea

My thumb is anything but green. My first attempt at gardening took place at the farmhouse we lived during the first year we were married. We were renting 5 acres of land, and you would think that I could work with that kind of beautiful space to grow something.

My idea of a beautiful, bountiful, colorful garden may have been a bit romanticized, and my excitement at the beginning of the season quickly waned. By the time things actually began to grow, I had lost interest and possessed no motivation to brave the mosquitoes in order to water or harvest.

My second go at a garden was two years later, this time at our second apartment, which had next to no yard. I loaded up on big, bright, colorful pots from Target, and set to work placing heirloom tomato and pepper transplants into them. The pots proved to be far too small, and we gleaned only a handful of peppers; no tomatoes. It was following this second garden fail that I decided I was just not cut out for gardening.

A Plot in Waiting

But then six months ago we bought our new home, and with it came a beautiful garden already fenced and ready to go come Spring. Of course I could not leave it there untouched. I had also come to an important realization–a conclusion, really,–as to why my previous gardens had failed, and it was this:  we were not dependent on them as a prominent food source.

When I planted my first garden, we had no yet switched to a whole food diet. It seems ridiculous to me now, looking back on that time, that I planted a huge garden full of vegetables that we never ate on a regular basis; of course there was no motivation to make it work. And my pot garden at our second apartment, although planted after we transitioned to whole foods, was more of a hobby. I never intended it to supply us with an abundant supply of fresh food. It was just sort of something to do.

As Local as it Gets!

With this realization, along with a lot of reading and learning I have done in the interim time, came a new resolve. We can grow our own food!  That is, after all, as local as it gets when it comes to sourcing fresh ingredients! I can walk out to our garden first thing in the morning and collect fresh strawberries for our pancakes. Whatever is ripe and ready in the morning can determine dinner that evening. It’s so simple, beautiful, and inspiring; enough so for me to make it work.

And so that’s what we began to do:  work.

And so Le Navet  (French for “Turnip”) was born! And from it we will eat. From it we will learn. From it we will grow.

And here is Le Navet’s small extension garden:  a homemade herb garden my husband built me from scratch!

Rooted in Our Values

In order to live according to our values, we must live intentionally; we must be purposeful with our decisions and time. It begins with defining our values, and these are some of mine:

• I want my children to understand where food comes from, beyond the grocery store shelves. I want them to understand how a baby plant emerges from the soil, reaches up towards the sun, and drinks in the rain. I want them to understand that this is God’s plan for our physical nourishment.

• I want them to understand the value of hard work, and that our endeavors in the garden not only put delicious food on the table, but also preserve the variety, colors, and nutrients that God designed food to harbor.

• I want them to know what a cherry tomato is really supposed to taste like!

• Finally, I want them to grow up empowered with the knowledge that despite the efforts of modern agriculture and the food industry to change food from its original design, we still have a choice in what we eat. We can protect the integrity of food as God designed it to taste and nourish; and it’s as simple as planting a seed in the soil.

Quotes from Almost Amish, Nancy Sleeth