Magical gardens

Garden season has officially begun for me and my kids. We started indoor seeds about six weeks ago (and they are doing very well) but we just got access to our community garden plot last week. I dug out a design yesterday while the kids played at the playground. There are few things I love more than having my hands in dirt. I don't wear gloves when I garden and I get way dirtier than my children! I'm truly a child of the earth.

Our community garden plot this year is in a garden that was newly established last year - after years, I think, of community members trying to get permission from the city to start one in their neighbourhood. The garden is a short bike ride from my house. The design of my plot was supposed to be a mandala shape but because the plot is small, I just dug out a circular path, leaving beds around the path and in the middle. Yesterday I planted mustard greens, lettuce, swiss chard, radishes, daikon, spinach, potatoes, and rhubarb. Today we went back and with Earth Girl's help, I planted parsnips, carrots, onions, and peas. Earth Girl is very interested in gardening, tending to our seedlings at home, playing with worms in the garden, and planting seeds. Earth Boy is not into the garden; he sits and reads history books or plays at the playground. I am at my happiest and most peaceful in the garden. Today with my hands in the dirt, I could feel my anxiety draining away.

A good friend of mine joined us for awhile, digging up her garden as well. I have also been very pleased to find out that some old friends who I spent a lot of time with when Earth Boy was younger have garden plots in our new community garden. There will be lots of kids to play with!

The benefits of community gardening can be summed up with nice word and phrases "connecting to nature", "accessible organic food", "positive social interactions", etc. But there is something truly magical about working the earth and planting seeds something, as one of the interviewees for my thesis explained, "that can not be explained with words".