I started writing this newsletter in early spring while I was in Cape May, New Jersey, visiting a regenerative farm and dreaming about the weather turning warm enough to begin gardening outside. For those unfamiliar, regenerative agriculture is a type of farming done in a way that builds soil health, increases organic matter, stores water effectively, and draws carbon out of the atmosphere. Essentially it's farming in a way that makes the land better than it was. You can read more in this piece I wrote for Food52.
Beach Plum Farm is home to chickens, turkeys, pigs and fruits and vegetables, including strawberries, pumpkins, blackberries, lettuce and more. Plus medicinal, butterfly and hummingbird gardens. It also has six cottages where guests can stay for a weekend or a week, helping to collect eggs from the chickens, harvesting some fruits and vegetables from the raised beds outside each home, and saying hello to the very silly pigs before cooking bacon for breakfast in their cottage (OK, maybe you'll decide not to do that). But the farm is based around the idea of radical transparency, allowing visitors to see everything. The real magic, especially for those visiting with children, is that the farm closes to the public at 5 p.m. That's when those staying in the cottages get the whole place to themselves.
Farming and gardening help me remember I'm part of a greater ecosystem and that my actions, whether it's something like watering a sunflower, too much or too little, matter. Plus, it's fun, especially when you get to watch your child pick stuff like kale and actually eat it.
Gardening is one of those ideal kids' activities because it can be as complicated or easy as needed. Little kids can help with planting, watering and harvesting, while older kids can help decide what to grow, where to grow it and even help build garden beds. Gardening can strengthen resilience because it helps us all practice flexibility, impulse control and patience. It presents the opportunity to learn and practice organizational and planning skills while encouraging scientific observation, teaching responsibility and providing sensory stimulation.
You don't need a lot of space to garden; you don't even need a yard. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Start by looking inside your fridge. An edible garden should be full of things you actually eat. For us, that means lots of berries. At my daughter's request, we're letting the strawberry plants take entirely over one of our garden beds this year.
Start small. An edible garden can be low maintenance, but it's never no maintenance, so start with a countertop herb garden (basil and cilantro grow easily) or a mushroom kit or a window box and then if you have the room and interest, scale up each year.
Grow vertical. If you live in an urban environment or don't have a traditional backyard, every square inch of space is precious. Intelligent indoor gardens, like Gardyn, Lettuce Grow, or Click n' Grow, can also help you grow food in living rooms, kitchens, and even tiny studio apartments. The companies, which use soilless farming techniques, ship seed pods that consumers place in mini-farms, including a water tank, and, depending on the model, grow lights and even WiFi. You can read more about them in this piece I wrote for Modern Farmer.
Time it out. While waiting patiently for things to sprout can help your child practice patience, you can also time your garden to make waiting not as cumbersome. For instance, if you want a quick turn-around on your garden bounty, focus on leafy greens like lettuces, kale, spinach, and herbs. Peas and strawberries come out early, followed by tomatoes. Potatoes and squash take more time, and you'll need a bigger space, but potatoes especially can be fun for kids as you dig them up, like digging for pirate treasure.
Enjoy. Everything will not grow successfully, and that's fine; you might end up with more lettuce than you'll eat; also fine. For us, gardening gets us outside, actually gets my child to eat a few leafy greens that she'll pick off the garden and helps to show her how she can impact her world.
~ Bridget
P.S. Here are a few things that I've been up to:
Published: A story on urban farmers and zoning constraints for Modern Farmer, and bairdi crab for Martha Stewart Living. Oh, and I was quoted in this story in The New York Times on millennial parenting and if we're all a little too earnest.
Working: On a story on regenerative agriculture for Wine Enthusiast and a piece on a honeybee residence program for Modern Farmer.
Looking for: Tips for making a 12-hour car more bearable for kids and can't-miss places to see in Nova Scotia.