Growing Vegetables & Growing Children-

Where do you get your inspiration for posts on your blog? For me it's primarily outdoors-strolling around the yard to determine who's winning-the flowers, the vegetables or the WEEDS.

When I am at a loss..nothing on my mind worth sharing with a friend, let alone the "world" via the Internet...I get outdoors. That newly installed backyard swing is a great spot. Just sit yourself down and let go of both important and trivial concerns.

That was my retreat early this morning. God's great outdoors and the 'dressing up' He has allowed us to do out there is enough to get me going..then the challenge is to grab hold of those thoughts and get them down before they become "fleeting"...never to be retrieved again. I think that is what many of us refer to as "senior moments."

As I sat quietly swinging "awhile ago" my mind began to wander [feet soon followed] from the swing and water feature over to our little garden patch. Noticing the tomato plants with some of them looking I think the word may be "spindly"...in other words thin ...sprawling..no support..mm remembered so often plants begin to strengthen from the bottom and fill out more healthy when we regularly pinch out "the tops"..less growth to share the nutrients etc.
Looks like we'll have a few butterbeans soon- note that we only have about 16 ft long raised bed..doesn't take a lot of vegetables for two people..this works for us. As the BB's are growing I noticed the heavy duty stock panel they're running on is giving way in the middle..needs a little more support..all these vegetable observations led me to considering an analogy of growing vegetables and growing children..many similarities.

Have you ever known a Mother who's parenting philosophy was: "JUST LOVE THEM" Some women we know as a Baby person..always loves them, always would love still to have another. Some women are often heard saying : "I hate to see them grow up." and yes I recall vividly one lady being described as a wonderful Mother who's parenting philosophy was "JUST LOVE THEM"

That sounds sweet...We mothers usually know how to LOVE THEM..We know what compassion is..we 'get' being UNDERSTANDING don't we?.
Just an aside: I have a grandson who loves all the Natural things...organic, healthy, fresh right from your own yard, raised bed or pots on the patio. He knows the value of good fresh fruits and veggies in a diet. But he often has trouble getting from the JUST LOVE THEM [ seeds in the ground] stage to the "done"...He doesn't give up he continues to learn and grow those healthy fresh veggies. He just loves them. [for purposes of illustration only/EMH-atwaba-'secret code' ]

Children, just like good vegetables need more than JUST LOVING..like the plants in my little patch..at times they need the right nutrients..more sun or less sun, some need more support, more space, some need the tops pinched out [the discipline, the hard choices, enter WISDOM here] the pruning..and any old kind of pruning won't work. That's why I often run to the Internet to search "how to prune..." various growing things in our yard. Some need just a pinch from the top [like my Mint] and others need to be significantly cut back perhaps close to the ground in order to come back healthy and robust. Then timing is also crucial. I shall always recall the season years ago when Hydrangeas were my new favorite thing in the whole world. Try as hard as I might to get useful feedback from gardening friends I failed. I needed to know when and how to prune. After more search and reading I learned that December and January is a good time and per my own understanding of my reading I pruned them down to the first buds above the ground..You guessed it..I had it backwards. The next season-No blooms..I say all that to reinforce this: The how and when are important. Couple both Knowledge and Wisdom here.

The education from the gardening books don't always come through for you. It's crucial where you go for your information.

Now, back to the "children" page: May I suggest perhaps three sources-The Bible , Holy Spirit leading, The Wisdom and Experience of another generation. I know that last one doesn't generally appeal to our culture today. That's okay, do what you will with it. Consider this like a "buffet"..take what you like but don't spit on the rest.

*this is a complicated subject..not complete or perfect, just a thought path to get us 'to thinking.'

~Gramma...thinking about things

jh