Inspiration for Up from the Ground
Kids, a garden, generosity and a mom on a mission to nourish
It was a typical Pacific Northwest summer. Not too hot. Not too sunny. Perfect for taking my newborn along with us to the garden. Last summer, every Friday, I endeavored to bring my two daughters and newborn son to work in the Storehouse Community Garden. And every Friday that we made it there, they were ecstatic!
This garden, complete with fruit trees, vegetables, flowers and herbs supplies 4,000 pounds of organically grown product to the adjacent food bank. The garden manager, John Martinson, has had his hands in this soil for 7 or 8 years (who’s counting?). He’s in his 80’s. Growing up in a farming and landscaping family, he returned to the wonder of the garden in his 70’s.
When I asked him about his vision for the garden, he humbly replied that he’d like to just keep the garden growing, to grow more and more food for those who need it.
My girls have helped harvest herbs, kale, rhubarb, tomatoes and squash. They especially loved harvesting potatoes. It was like a scavenger hunt! I loved that they were up to their elbows in soil, coming into contact with a diverse world of beneficial microbes, unmatched by probiotics and other attempts to help them grow a healthy microbiome. (As an agronomist, I’m into all the goodness soil has to offer!)
Most every time we came we had a new experience. Except for when weeding was in order. Weeding isn’t usually anyone’s favorite, but that’s part of gardening. And doing things you don’t love is just part of life. A great life lesson.
Satisfied with all the experiences, learning and engagement my girls gained in this vibrant garden, I wondered how we could invite more hands to explore the benefits that the garden offers. Aside from the obvious benefits of learning about where whole food comes from, there are many levels of health benefits to children when they get their hands in the soil.
I didn’t need to look far, just beyond the playground, next to the garden, the childcare center seemed to call out to me, “there’s lots of kids just through those doors! They can experience this garden the way my children have.”
Out of Mr. Martinson’s generosity of heart, I hope a generation kids and their families will be blessed. The 4,000 pounds of produce, while significant, are finite, but the learning, aided by Up from the Ground, is infinite. Teaching kids to love the ground they walk on and that 95% of our food grows from will pay immense dividends in their lifetime. Not only to their health, but to the wellness of our planet. For I am convinced, that every ounce of love given to our soil, will be repaid in a wellspring of life-giving food, cleaner air and a diversified microbiome, now and for generations to come. Teaching our kids to love and nourish healthy soil is an invaluable gift.
“When children play an active role in growing and preparing their own food, they are less likely to be picky eaters and enjoy a variety of fruits and vegetables with a wide array of nutrients. Extensive research also supports that when children are allowed to play in the dirt, they are exposed to the beneficial soil microbes that strengthen the immune system and lower their risk for developing allergies, asthma and other childhood illnesses.”
Rebecca Oosterhout, MS, RD, CD, CLT
Connecting Kids to Real Food
A garden-based workbook for kids
Easily teach kids in the classroom of the edible garden!
For the gardener or the non-gardener, parents, grandparents, the educator or the childcare worker, Up from the Ground draws children into the garden through the seasons to observe, measure, draw, touch, taste and smell.
Connecting with soil, the basis of nutrition, is what it’s all about. It’s time to discover what’s happening in the garden and enjoy the benefits of healthy soil and whole food along the way!
Up from the Ground by Rebecca Murakami.
A portion of net proceeds will benefit ECHO International (see below).