A Child is Like a Seed

My child graduates from High School today and is well on her way to making her own way in the world.

Raising a child is the greatest, most fulfilling gift I can imagine. It doesn't mean that it's always easy or pretty or perfect, but it is absolute magic.

Below is a piece I wrote several months ago for school and it is truly all I can offer you today.

I'll see you on the other side of my pride and my tears...

"Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up 

where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. 

Convince me that you have a seed there,

and I am prepared to expect wonders." 

~ Henry David Thoreau

I have vivid memories of playing in nature as a little girl.  I still hold visions of my three-year-old self watering my mom’s plants on the front porch of our tiny little adobe house on Polaco Street…the warm sun on my little body…my long hair pulled back in a ponytail…the buzzing of the honey bees around my ears…the crisp blue sky high above my head…the sweet texture of the soil in-between my toes…the smile on my mom’s face.

I remember running through the fields of wildflowers by my grandmother’s house in Truchas, collecting peacock feathers from the property next door and climbing every tree I could get a foot hold on. I investigated arroyos, teased the horny toads and actually took time to stop and smell the flowers that, along with countless cacti, sprinkled the expansive land around our temporary home in Lamy.  I was hopelessly in love with the quiet nature I found all around me.

As I got older and we changed homes a couple more times, I found myself spending every waking moment I could outside.  It didn’t matter if I was simply playing in the rocky dirt or lying on a soft patch of grass, I simply longed for the expansiveness of the world outside the four walls we called home.  I enjoyed watching my mom plant cosmos and tomatoes, carrots and sunflowers but rarely helped out.  Despite my early love of nature and all the beauty I could access around me, I didn’t find my passion for cultivating any small patch of earth until I was in my early thirties.

My mom had the greenest thumb I’ve ever seen and while I wish I had had the foresight to glean some of her gardening wisdom from her before she passed, I simply wasn’t interested until a few years ago. It seems though, that once my interest was sparked, it took off like a wildfire.  One tomato plant became six, which quickly became 16. This year, our garden plans include several different varieties; canning, cutting and (of course) cherry tomatoes are among our most favorite. In addition to the tomatoes, we are also growing a multitude of other vegetables, herbs and seeds, including, but not limited to, spinach and kale, cucumbers and butternut squash, bush beans and potatoes, asparagus and garlic, basil and mint, broccoli and cayenne peppers, sunflowers and zucchini.  Our garden has become a continued effort to grow as much of our own food on the 1/8 acre we purchased five years ago as is possible.  Our garden also works in a beautiful collaboration with our flock of laying hens.  Everything is connected and, through that connection, we are learning how to grow, harvest and preserve as much as we possibly can despite the limited time and space we have.  

Now, if I could just figure out my mom’s famous tomato sauce, I’d be set.

Though I couldn’t tell you what exactly sparked this new-found passion, it could be a variety of reasons…  The continued uncertainty of the economy and rising food prices balanced by the certainty of what we can grow on our own little plot.  The cost to the environment of our food production methods and perceived necessity for planetary food imports and exports and the excessive use of fossil fuels used to feed our wants and needs balanced by what I can find locally and sustainably.  The pervasive use of genetically modified organisms in everything from corn to wheat to tomatoes and beyond balanced by my new-found love of the gorgeous heirloom varieties that so desperately need to be protected.   There is much uncertainty on our planet right now and cultivating a garden not only feeds my family, it also brings me a bit of comfort.

So, while I don’t remember a particular A-ha moment, I do believe that my passion may be rooted in my life-long fascination with seeds. Those tiny pieces of organic matter that, when cared for, contain endless possibilities.  One seed, when placed in a warm, sustaining environment, taken care of and fed, given love and attention, will grow into a plant that produces beautiful foliage as well as vegetables or fruits.  This inviting environment becomes a haven for the organisms around it (be they microorganisms, bugs, bees, birds, or any number of animals and amphibians depending on your individual ecosystem) which can be both harmful and helpful to the plant.  If the plant can survive the heat, downpours, munching of bugs and a variety of other challenges, it can grow to produce delicious sustenance for humans and animals alike.  It is all quite fascinating and reminds me of our own human existence on this planet.

Take a tomato plant, for instance.  A single tomato plant can, on average, given the right conditions and care, produce 8-10 pounds of fruit.  If each tomato weighs only 6 ounces, you can wind up with about 25 individual tomatoes, all produced from one single seed. Those tomatoes, depending on their variety, can be used for salads, sliced to be placed in sandwiches, stewed down into a sauce or even turned into a savory jam.  If you use your imagination and the wisdom of friends, the possibilities are endless.

Now, each tomato can hold within its flesh, hundreds of itty bitty individual seeds.  If those seeds are properly harvested at the end of the season, washed, dried and cared for properly throughout the cold months, every single one of those seeds has the ability to be cultivated into new plants capable of feeding countless people within a year of its parents planting.  If you sit for a minute and do the math, the mind boggles.  And so the cycle continues.

Like caring for a child, you must consider how you will care for each plant while it grows and changes.  Every tomato is different and requires individual attention, intention and care.  If a tomato is a determinate variety (Yellow Taxi and Roma) it will remain fairly compact and will produce its fruit within a set time frame.  However, if the tomato is an indeterminate (Brandywine and Cherokee Purple) variety, its vines will sprawl if not given guidance and boundaries and it will continuously produce fruit until the weather gets too cold to sustain its life.  While children cannot be pigeonholed quite so easily, they do require your continued support, care and intention, while also allowing plenty of space to grow and the freedom to be themselves.

There are many courses of action that must be taken in order to keep your tomatoes safe throughout their growth cycle.  You must give them enough space to thrive, while also protecting them from pests and predators.  Whether they come in the form of hornworms or aphids, stinkbugs or fruitworms, with a little time and attention, your tomatoes can remain safe.  You can try a variety of methods to protect them…crop rotation, companion planting or cornmeal to name a few, but you must also keep in mind that, just like in life, not every little tomato will make it to adulthood unscathed.  We all have our bumps and bruises, our scars and imperfections but those are the attributes that makes us each unique and enjoyable to be around.

Planting a garden (or even a single tomato plant), like raising a child, requires some planning and a good bit of work.  However, planting a seed is also an act of great hope.  There is a trust in the simple action of taking a tiny seed and placing it in the warm soil, that not only does tomorrow exist, but that it will also provide you with a different experience than today, and that possibility is full of promise.

I have found an incredible sense of peace in my own garden, despite what might be happening in the world around me.  I tend to find myself in a meditation space while tooling around, pulling weeds, planting seeds, putting down mulch and harvesting the bounty (no matter how great or small).  The wind whispers gentle reminders of all that nature is capable of into my ear, the sun tickles my back with her life giving rays and the butterflies investigate the abundance we’ve created with our own two hands.  At the height of summer, the garden is the first place I go after work, before I even put my bag down.  As it grows in leaps and bounds, day after day, I find so much wonder and excitement in each flower, each pepper and cucumber and tomato.

 

While in the garden, amongst the trees and flowers and weeds, watching the buzzing bees for whom I am named, I can’t help but to think of my mom…of her own passion and excitement, her hope and hard work.  I can almost feel her with me, gently guiding my hand, sharing her wisdom and smiling at my harvest success.  I think she might laugh a little at what we’ve done here, with all our chickens and bees and raised beds, and I know she would be proud of all we’ve accomplished (now, if I could just figure out that sauce recipe, I’d be all set).  Whether she knew it or not, she planted a seed of hope and harvest within me, it just took a little longer to germinate than she might have liked.

I cannot encourage the act of growing (at least some of) your own food enough.  The rewards far outweigh the struggles and the process is a gift.  Get outside, dig in the dirt, plant some seeds and grow some food.  If you have a child in your life, share the experience with them.  Teach them how to cultivate the soil that lies beneath their feet.  Teach them how recognize a seedlings first true leaves and how to remove the suckers from a healthy tomato plant.  Show them the life-cycle of a hornworm.  Give them the rich, juicy experience of tasting a tomato straight off the vine, still warm from the sun and ripe with the taste of your own hard work.  Recognize that, at times, children may seem disinterested, however, know that statistics and time are on your side.  If an organic seed, planted with good intention, is given everything it needs, it will eventually germinate. It might take longer than anticipated, but once it germinates, remember, the possibilities are endless.

xoxo,
M

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