For all those who read my first gardening post, here is my promised to be continued…

Oh how I wish we had found this beautiful, perfectly charming, sweet book sooner. The story over views the ins and outs of gardening simple-style, with all the warmth of family memory making, unity and togetherness. The family begins small and branches from there. This year I’m working harder toward putting in a butterfly garden, due to the inspirational whispering of this gorgeous picture book.

The Google Review of this precious book, We are the Gardeners: is spot on:

“Teach children that the greatest rewards come from patience, hard work, and learning from mistakes!

In the #1 New York Times bestseller We Are the Gardeners, Joanna Gaines and the kids chronicle the adventures of starting their own family garden…”

There was a season when I began to know how tiny chubby hands planting seeds, was especially therapeutic for me. (A story promised from last garden post.)

I was especially mourning after my second miscarriage in a row. When one day, the doorbell rang, bringing the arrival of the president of the women’s organization of my congregation. She told me that her son or son in law, would be happy to come over and disc our back yard garden plot.

I declined, not feeling anywhere near like gardening, but she insisted. I could sense she knew something I didn’t know, so I agreed to her generous offer.

I decided to grow just a pumpkin patch. Or maybe, my Relief Society President had so suggested. And that felt like plenty.

As I gardened there with my little children, and their sweet fat little hands pushed the pumpkin seeds that so easily nestled into their palms, a deep and quiet gratitude for the life that surrounded me, the potential of growing plant and growing children, blanketed an antithesis of death and cessation. Wind blew my hair, fresh air filled my lungs, and the dirt grounded me into the present moment in a place of more tolerance for loss than I had had before.

That year, there had been a lot of flooding, and so while I was late to start, I was actually one of the few whose pumpkins turned out, bypassing over wetness. Our congregation had a Halloween party, that my husband and I were asked to host. We were able to provide pumpkins for pumpkin painting, and meet some friends doing so!

And capturing children gathering harvest, especially pumpkins, also became a favorite pastime.

A bit on bringing children into the process with

💛💚JOY💚💛

Loving to garden yourself is the foremost key component, and so with a little creativity and problem solving, it is possible to fall in love. As you love it, your singing, peace, smiles and presence will be compelling. And if worst comes to worse, and your children don’t like it, can it be the worst thing to have a special alone time setting guaranteed?

I notice that there’s no need to stress much about toddlers stepping on plants. They are so light they rarely damage plants. And older children can easily learn the difference between plants from weeds in where they step.

Toddlers love to have your personage surrounding them as they plant a few seeds. You might say, “Push”, for each seed and they’ll love to parrot you.

I used to not require gardening, because as I said here before, my Dad loving it but not requiring it, I believe helped me give it a try on for size later in my life. My oldest son gained so much hard work and ambition from this. He planted a huge batch of potatoes a few years, growing into his ability and two batches of corn differing years!!

One of my largest gardening regrets for my oldest daughter is she planted some flowers from seed. I was so proud, they grew! She planted them in the garden, and when they got surrounded by a jungle of weeds, I got overwhelmed too and didn’t help her tackle the problem. 😕😥😢 The previous owners of our home, offered to help, saying that they could help her weed her flowers, and in my pride, I unfortunately said we were good, and later felt sooooo very sad I didn’t accept that neighbor’s support, when they had it to give to help my sweet daughter with her beautiful flower starts.

And now, I work family gardening into the schedule, with all expected to participate, and where it isn’t a surprise, but something predictable, that helps with resistance. I put the timer on. It used to be 15 minutes, then we moved to 20. This year we stretched to 30 minutes.

I do know it makes a world of difference when I am there working, laughing, and chatting with them, for children enjoying or not.

(Many a child will complain and resist anything that takes effort. Have confidence that being in healing restorative nature, and working toward something that brings beautiful “fruit”, will bring peace to your child’s spirit. Achievement, wholesome work and skill building will layer confidence in your child’s development. It’s often within that very time of complaining that as they settle into the process, I see them experience the calm of the experience.)

Recently, my hubby and I went on a getaway. When we came back, most my plants were dead to the bone. I had a big melt down. I’m afraid I scarred my children for life for them loving gardening, in my dissappointment, I kept ranting! We found out later a frost had gone through. I repent in these occasional experiences by apologizing, looking to the root of my melt down, contemplating, dissecting and discussing these. I continue forward by building the relationships, practicing a new way to respond in mind, and experiencing self compassion and hope, hopefully with my gaze on the Savior in that. I’m so glad I have a Savior to look to to take upon himself my iniquity that I can move forward.

It was a beautiful trip down memory lane, gathering these photos. And know in all of our imperfections, mine, yours, ours, beautiful motifs are establishing in our lives as we aim for diligent beautiful patterns.