Children’s Garden News
by Jean Stark
This past winter I surrounded myself with books on children’s gardens to get me through the rainy, damp Whidbey winter. In those books I could still be in the garden and imagine not just my hands in the dirt, but what, as a child, I would love to experience still in a garden.
So many ideas gave me inspiration, and a few ideas have stayed with me: Sunflower rooms created by planting a circle of sunflowers to enter into for shade and privacy. I can feel the scratchy leaves brushing my arms as I enter into the darkened circular room. The smell of the shaded dirt inside, and the safety of the tall plants surrounding me like gentle and loving parents.
I read about a floral clock garden where all the flowers bloom according to the time of day in the round-shaped garden divided into hours – 24 hours of opening and closing blooms. Like people, flowers have their own inner clocks and preferences for sleeping and waking, this inner genetic programming.
This year, as we each enter into the garden with our hands, to tend to the soil and nourish our imaginations, our joy and hope is planted. In our deepest dreams we cultivate the way forward, in the way of our hearts. We let it take us where we need to go because its wisdom is superior to anything offered us from outside ourselves.
The children we cultivate within ourselves though nature, gardening, art, creativity and connection will grow with us. I invite you to visit this child within in. Get your hands in the soil – in the ground or in a pot. Pick up a brush, pencil or pair of scissors and create with joy. Laugh whenever possible, look at a bee or ant and marvel at its personhood, talk to creatures and witness their listening.
I hope this year you will visit the Children’s Garden, and you will find inspiration to see things with renewed connection. I hope you find this in your own garden, actual and imagined. And if you’d like to join with me in dreaming of possibilities in the SW Tilth Children’s Garden, all that is needed is presence and appreciation. I believe that alone is a secret ingredient to growing.
References:
Great Gardens for Kids by Hamlyn
Sunflower Houses by Sharon Lovejoy
The Magic of Children’s Gardens by Lolly Tai
New strip along the fence for planting peas, cucumbers and squash.
To inquire about volunteer opportunities please contact Jean Stark at jstark250488@comcast.net