Making Room for Magic
Today one of my friends turned 80 and I went out into the garden to pick some flowers to make her a birthday bouquet. Between my neighbour’s garden and mine, I had a hard time choosing which pretty flowers to pop into the wine glass I was using. Delivering birthday bouquets is a tradition I started during lock down, and while they may be small in size they bring a lot of pleasure to the friends around us.
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
While I love my small garden, and it brings me great pleasure to see the brightly coloured flowers when I open the curtains each morning to the dawn chorus, I spend very little time sitting on my patio simply enjoying the fruits of my labour. I am an impatient gardener, but while it would be quicker and easier to fill my beds with seedlings it is magical seeing small seeds, cuttings and plants that had slept through the winter burst into life.
“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.” ~ Albert Einstein
On the 22nd of September Mimi turned 15. Like many had looked forward to her birthday from the beginning of the year and was very excited when the special day finally arrived. The day was filled to the brim with treats and surprises, including lunch with me, and her face glowed with joy and excitement. Since I started teaching Mimi online last year, she has learnt a lot from me and I have learnt a lot from her as well. Mimi has taught me to slow down and to celebrate every achievement. She has also taken me on a voyage of discovery exploring the world anew through her eyes.
“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.” ~ Dr. Seuss
Dr Seuss is right the world is full of magic but as we move from childhood into adulthood, rushing from one task to another it is harder to find it. Talking about magic brings back a memory of a conservation I had with a 5 year old about Father Christmas. One of the kids at the preschool where I taught had told Kai that Father Christmas didn’t exist and hoping that it wasn’t true he asked me if Father Christmas was real.
Not wanting to lie to him, or shatter his belief in the jolly man in red, I said kindly that yes there was a Father Christmas but as we got older it was harder to see him. Then I don’t want to get older said Kai because I want to always believe in Father Christmas. My dear little Peter Pan , while you can’t hold back hands of time you can still find the magic that exists around us by taking a break from your busy life and exploring the world through the eyes of your child.
“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” ~ Ronald Dahl
LESSONS FROM THE GARDEN
You can encourage children to try and grow their own veggies. When a home grown salad appears on the dinner table or at a braai and it will give your kid’s self esteem a huge boost to be able to present a dish they have created from scratch using young, tender vegetables harvested from their own vegetable patch.
With any gardening project the most important goal, besides having fun and getting your kids outdoors, is to help them to achieve success and to build their confidence by making them feel more skilled and capable. Even if your crops fail – simply the experience of planting, tending and nurturing vegetables can instil a sense of responsibility in children and help them to care for their environment.
Half the fun of gardening is eating what you you sow and kids that grow gardens tend to eat healthier and are more likely to try new fruits and vegetables. You don’t need a lot of space to create a vegetable patch, and using a patch of ground the size of a door and some containers your children will be able to produce some of these vegetables which are relatively easy to grow, have short growing seasons and are fun to harvest.
1. Lettuce and salad leaves: a quick and reliable crop to give the kids fast results. Rocket is one of the easiest salad crops to grow as the seed is big enough for small hands to sow. The flowers are also edible.
2. Radishes: produce quick results for the young gardener and it only takes 3 to 4 weeks from seed to plate.
3. Peas and beans: they are a perfect quick growing crop which is easy to plant. French beans don’t need staking. If you have space you can make wigwams using bamboo or dowel sticks and twine for peas and runner beans. Your children will love picking them and popping them open to discover the beans inside.
4. Cherry tomatoes: these are the most fun crop for a child, aside from strawberries. They can be grown in small pots or hanging baskets. The plants are usually high yielding and produce a ton of little red tomatoes and the children will love eating the juicy, warm fruits straight from the plant.
5. Carrots: are easy to grow because they survive in most climates and fun to eat. Since you cannot see how big your carrots are growing underground, picking the first carrot is always so much fun! It’s a total surprise and you never know what you are going to get.
6. Potatoes: they are an amazing vegetable to grow because you can grow them in a garbage bag or a stack of old tires. As you start with a seed potato or any potato that has started to sprout, it’s a bit like a science experiment for kids, which is lots of fun.
7. Courgettes: easy to grow from seed, harvest regularly when they’re no bigger than your hand.