Update on Our Garden

This year, we planted a small garden rather late in the season. Better late than never, right? We looked at it every day and plucked little weeds out before they ate up precious nutrients from the soil. We watered it and rejoiced when we got rain, because that meant we did not have to haul out the hose.

Small garden

Our harvested lettuce has almost gone to seed.

Then, the greatest moment came: harvesting lettuce leaves. For the first time, we had lettuce to harvest. Such a treat! We just walked out onto the patio with a bowl and plucked some leaves. We were having company, so we needed a lot of it. I read somewhere that you can actually harvest lettuce three times before it goes to seed, but I do not know if I am that lucky. We did plant a little late in the season.

For sure, we will be able to harvest one more time. It’s just a neat experience to be able to harvest lettuce from the patio pots and I thought I would share it with you. I do not have a green thumb and do not find gardening relaxing. A lot of people do and they do it for pleasure. I do it because I know it is good for us.

We just have so many mosquitoes, they make it really tough for us to be outside for long periods of time. No matter how much I hide under long pants, long-sleeved shirts and a hat, I still get bitten at least once while I am out gardening. Not fun.

But here’s the connection with homeschooling. Somebody once said that gardening is the ABC of education. Just think about the parallels between gardening and bringing knowledge to children. Let’s start with the soil preparation. The mind of children is a ready ground for learning. But if you crowd it with rapidly moving TV programs or video games, they will not be able to slow down and pick up new information from a book or a workbook.

Then, weeds are always at the ready. In the same way, worthless information, shows, and books abound. They crowd out the precious plants of true knowledge, realistic scenarios, and worthwhile lessons. I am still learning how to weed out certain activities which do not align with the overall goals of our homeschool.

Just as you can never say you are done weeding, you can never put your vigilance aside about your children’s education and recreational choices. Personally, I know I have to come up higher in our choices and am constantly praying for wisdom.

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