Perks of Raising Children in the Garden

Our family has been blessed to be able to raise our children in the garden. Does this mean we've spent every waking hour in the garden, not hardly; but we have spent a good many hours toiling in the soil. I never imagined in a million years that it would turn out to be as great a gift as it has turned out to be. In our early years, growing our own food was just something we felt led to do to save money and part of our 'back to basics' lifestyle. Our children really didn't have much of a choice but to come along side of us for better or worse ~ learning with us, as we evolved in our homesteading efforts.

Thankfully, we rarely have had any complaints from our children when it comes to working in the garden. To be honest, most of the time they are the spearheads when it comes to getting us all our there to get the work done. I suppose this has much to do with the fact that each of our children have spent their days digging in dirt since before they could walk. It's second nature, especially for the younger ones coming up. They've watched their Daddy, Mama, and siblings spend countless hours planting, hoeing, and picking the garden ~ year after year. They don't know anything else.

During seasons of burnout I've often thought about what our life would look like if we didn't have the demands of a thriving garden. When I ponder on the pros and cons of growing our own food, I really can't think of too many negatives. Any downside can quickly be turned into a positive. Which is why I quickly put those feeling aside when I have my rare: "I just don't want to do this anymore". Because I know raising our children in the garden is one of the best things we could ever do for them.

There are numerous advantageous to raising children in the garden, but in effort to keep this post to a minimum, I'm only going to share our family's top three reasons to include children in the process of growing your own food. 

1. Knowledge & Confidence Builder: Nature is God's greatest classroom. There is no better learning platform than the family garden. For a child to know where food comes from is an asset in and of itself. We have found that when a child has a firm understanding as to what it takes to grow food that it reduces children becoming picky eaters. (Growing food is hard work!!) There are so many lessons to be had outside in the garden from how to plant, when to plant, what to plant, what are pests and plights for growing fruits and vegetables ~ the lessons are endless. Not to mention the confidence booster that comes from growing your own food. For a child to experience the first hand joy of planting a seed, weeding, watering, and picking the delicious delectable fruit or veggies ~ trust me y'all it's good stuff for their little hearts, minds, and souls.
2. Encourage Parent/Child Relationship: Let's face it there are so many distractions these days which vie for our attention and our children's attention. When working in the garden those deterring plights seem to disappear; and it's just parent and child enjoying the beauty of God's creation. Can it be an opportunity for angst and child training? Absolutely, but that doesn't make children in the garden a bad thing. On the contrary! It makes it a good thing, a very good thing. To be able to teach your children to grow their own food is a valuable lifelong skill that they can take with them forever. They will never forget the time you invested in them teaching them, guiding them, and simply spending time with them. It truly is a worthwhile endeavor. 
3. Physically Health: Our bodies need to be outside. We need to move, sweat, and get dirty. Working in the garden is hard physically work, there is no doubt. But, it's the good kind of work that has amazing rewards. Staying fit and healthy is at the core of growing your own food, and including children in those efforts only better insures that they will carry those valuable attributes with them in to adulthood. Sickness and disease breeds in sedentary bodies, true me y'all, working in the garden is anything but sedentary. Add in the amazing health benefits of dirt and the exposure to the sun and it's awesome source of vitamin D ~ working in the garden just doesn't get any better for promoting a healthy body and mind!

We are a family unit, a team, working together to meet the needs of the entire family. Just like any institution, no one member is any more important than the other ~ we need everyone participating to make this homestead run as productively and smoothly as possible. Our efforts to include our children in the garden is not to make them slaves, but to show them they truly are a valued members of the family. Giving them the assurance that no matter how young they are they still can help, they can serve others, and most importantly they can be a positive contributing member. After all isn't that the sum of what all parents are trying to do? Raise children who will be positive contributing members to society? If that is true, than I can assure you, there is no better place to raise children than in the garden.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer