Gardens and Kitchens

From Gardens Kitchens

Fresh from the garden to the kitchen. Definitely the best option. We have been spending lots of time outside lately in our garden/kitchen-- Josie's friends gave her their little wooden kitchen and she's been loving it. Multiple times a day I'll hear "I'm making dinner outside" and then watch Josie proceed to do just that.

From Gardens Kitchens

It's fun to watch her vocabulary and know how increase. She even "cleans" her kitchen on occasion!

Beside the kitchen that is on our patio, we do have a little garden producing lettuce, garlic and strawberries for us at the moment.

From Gardens Kitchens

Josie made the connection that the strawberry she was eating was the same thing growing next to her kitchen, and she also had a strawberry in her kitchen (plastic one) so I then found the matching "real ones" to the rest of her vegetables to put together a little naming lesson.

From Gardens Kitchens

I was surprised how much Josie got into it.

From Gardens Kitchens

A nice surprise.

Our other garden is growing ok.

From Gardens Kitchens

Now that the sun is out it's making a difference-- thankfully.

From Gardens Kitchens

We're enjoying salad directly from it most nights and waiting anxiously to see if anything else grows! It's been a good practice in cultivating something.

From Gardens Kitchens

I've also been reflecting on the many metaphors gardening has for life. Like even if your garden is full of compost, if that compost was made from the wrong kind of materials, it's not going to be healthy compost and the vegetables aren't going to thrive in an acidic environment no matter how much you water them. Sounds similar to the parable of the soils, doesn't it? Likewise, I doubt that a human being can grow strong and healthy in an acidic environment unless there is something added to the soil of their lives to give nutrients and well being. See-- there is something to be learned about parenting in the garden! The phenom of slugs, squirrels and crows and their ability to steal and eat my poor little plants has had an aggravating effect on my gardening attempt as well. I can imagine there are lots of ways I could understand that metaphor! But, it sure is gratifying to go out to the garden, pick a couple things, and then cook them!

From Gardens Kitchens

The smells coming from the spaghetti sauce in which Dave used this "local" (from the back yard) garlic, oregano and basil was definitely yumalicious as was sauce itself.