The Edible (Educational) Garden

It felt like coming home when we stepped foot in The Edible Garden today. So many glorious sunny (and even sweltering hot) days were spent there last year learning about what goes into growing organic food. Not only did it open our eyes (and tastebuds) to a whole new variety of fruits and veggies, it taught us a valuable lesson in waste.

After planting, weeding and harvesting this labor of love, how could we possibly throw out food as we had before? It made us smarter about how we grocery shop in the first place, how much we need to prepare for a meal (you know the old "eyes bigger than your stomach" phenomenon?) and then finally what happens to the leftovers and scraps.

Thanks to the Edible Garden and everyone at The Organic Gardener we embraced composting last year. And even though our Nature Mill shorted and our Earth Machine is still outside at the old house, we've grown to love vermicomposting in our condo. The kids particularly love naming the worms & that opportunity seesm to increase every day!

So as we begin our adventure every Wednesday at the Edible Garden, I will keep a little journal here (my homage to the gardeners, volunteers and the Green City Market for all their good work) to mark our progress and wondrous experiences.

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This is why I love gardening here... I never knew when you plant a 1/4 of a potato (cut side down) that the sprouts grow from the eye into a new potato! These are the kind of ah-ha moments I get every time I visit. (You have to remember I grew up in a business district. The closest thing I saw to a garden was the 70's wallpaper in our bathroom!) Today the kids got a chance to learn all about the spacing, the depth and plant their very own!

Afterwards, we walked around taking note of what was already planted- corn, strawberries, sugar snap peas (our favorite!) and what was sprouting- Egyptian onions, chives, cabbage... I am forgetting things! So organized- love that! ;)

Before we left for school, I stopped dead in my tracks to just take it all in. The smell of fresh dirt, the sounds of the kids laughing as their steps crunch down the rows, the taste of the freshly picked chives in my mouth. This is perfection to me. Pure life. Breath. Happiness.