• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Peggy O'Mara

family • health • justice • culture

  • About
  • Family
    • Babies and Toddlers
    • Children
    • Tweens and Teens
    • Education
    • Reviews
  • Birth
    • Pregnancy and Birth
    • Breastfeeding
    • Postpartum
    • Childbirth Education
  • Living Well
  • Making Change
  • Food/DIY
    • Food/DIY
    • Holidays
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Writer’s Guidelines
  • Store
    • Toolbox for Normal Birth
    • Your Pregnancy: Week by Week
    • Reprints
    • Privacy Policy
  • Log in

Baby is Garden Grown

August 26, 2014 Leave a Comment

I approach gardening with kids much like I approach anything with kids: with joy, patience and as much non-attachment to the outcome as I can muster. This way when it’s fun it fun and when it’s done it’s done.

img_1930_2
Because I garden for a living, I have had to figure out ways not only to share my great love of the earth with my son but also to engage him while still getting stuff done.
img_1320
Not only is fresh air and sunshine good for you and your child postpartum, but getting babies used to where you plan to spend a lot of time with them is helpful. As they arrive on this earth, provide them with safe comfortable ways to feel like they belong on this good green earth.
img_1828
When my son was very young I put him in a little basket in the green house.
img_2167
As he got older he spent lots of time right in the garden patch.
img_1311
I made sure he was well protected when the sun was bright. He slept really well outside.
img_4798
We provided safe spaces by adding little edges, walls and fences to help define the boundaries of plants and people
img_3830
We gave him something to pull himself up on and lots of safe grazing foods within reach.
img_4463
Glorious Rain. So much of the world is fascinating and marvelous when you are brand new.
img_8801
The garden is the greatest place to experience the feel and the texture of life and to open our senses to the miracles of sensory awareness.
img_6394
I let my son pluck a flower or two or eat some dirt: the casualties are most likely worth it.
img_0461
I put recycled tiles in the garden paths as stepping-stones and it is more entertaining for my son to jump from one to another than to trample the plants, so we are both happy with that!
img_0265
When kids get even older, say 2, it is important to set them up with projects you can let them work on without having to keep too close an eye.
img_8781
My husband somehow has two of every thing and can set our son up to work right by his side. He also seems to have varying sizes of things so that our son has a real hammer, but one that fits in his hands and isn’t a danger.
img_7302
No matter how hard you try to prepare, measure and accommodate, when a child is done, he is done!
img_6517
Being in the garden with my son does involve some boundaries and guidance, but mostly it is a time for reverence and connection.
img_3493
And now look at him! My little garden guy. Marveling at the wonders all around him, sharing the miracles of life with those close to him and working, always working.
img_0586
“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” ― RachelCarson.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

IMG_2730From early experiences Erin O’Neill learned that feeding your family and teaching your children are most worthy and sustainable goals. Erin has lived on a small plot in Northern New Mexico, that she and her family help nurture and bloom, for 13 years. She has focused her career on educational gardens at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum, Monte Del Sol Charter School and now at the Santa Fe Community College. Her love of gardening is her most cherished gift and she always delights in sharing it. Enjoy more of Erin’s writing and photography at Seeds & Stones.

Related

Filed Under: Featured, Living Well

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Newsletter Sign Up

Get Your FREE Postpartum Checklist when you sign up for my biweekly newsletter.

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Email

Top Posts & Pages

Birth in the Squatting Position
Birth in the Squatting Position
Homeopathy In Labor
Acupressure for Colic
Ayurvedic Postpartum
Marijuana for Hyperemesis
The Very First Birth Film
Birthing and Nursing Toys
What is Natural Breastfeeding?
Killer Fear: Adrenaline High
Little Passports

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Footer

About

peggyomara.com continues the journalistic tradition of thought leader, Peggy O’Mara, who has been curating exceptional editorial content for over 30 years. Articles on the site are carefully chosen to bring you provocative ideas, excellent writing, and moving photography, all to help you make better decisions.

Archives

Search

Categories

Babies and Toddlers Breastfeeding Childbirth Education Children Culture Education Family Featured Food/DIY Holidays Home and Garden In The News Living Well Making Change Movies Natural Family Poems Postpartum Pregnancy and Birth Recipes Reviews Tweens and Teens Uncategorized Videos

Recent

  • Halloween Candy Dilemma: Sugar
  • How to Cloth Diaper with Organic Cloth Diapers
  • How to Feng Shui Your Home
  • Families Need Direct Payments Now
  • Find Help with Breastfeeding
  • Philosophies of How Children Learn
  • Primer on Ayurveda for Healthy Digestion
  • Get Help for Postpartum Depression
  • The Lives Of Student Parents

Copyright © 2021 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in