Would you believe I found the glue that creates the family bonds? It’s true!
What’s your favorite memory of your grandparents?
I love to ask baby boomers that question, and here are just a few of the answers they’ve given me:
“Collecting eggs in the henhouse with grandma.”
“Working in the garden with granddad.”
“Gathering apples from Old Aunt Julia’s tree and making applesauce together.”
I started noticing a theme in the answers I was getting—I’m sure you see it, too.
… They’re all about food!
If you’re like me, you can completely relate. Everything of importance in our lives centers around food—from holidays to connection to focused conversation.
In fact, gathering, growing, and preparing food together is a primal glue that has bonded family groups since the first humans walked this earth.
In my next video chapter of Grow: All True Wealth Comes From the Ground, I show you how to tap into the power of this ancient human activity to strengthen your family and vastly improve your true wealth.
(Video Length: 20.21 minutes)
In this video, I discuss:
- Reluctant Spouse Or Kids? 7 Ways To Entice Them Toward Food Production!
- The Gardener’s “Gateway Drug” 😉
- 3 Tips For Bulletproofing Your Family’s First Garden
Then, I’d love to know:
What are your favorite food-related childhood memories?
How do you get your family involved in gardening?
Put your answers in the comments below. I can’t wait to hear from you!
Did you miss the last chapter of Grow: All True Wealth Comes From the Ground? Click here to watch the last video chapter.
P.S. If you’d like to check out the eBook I mentioned in the video, Simple and Effective Watering Systems for Small Livestock, click here!
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COMMENTS(13)
Picking mulberries along the creek with Papa. Making cookies with Grandma. Playing Scrabble with Great Grandma. Food and games were and are a big part of my childhood. I’m trying to give that to my boys. Such wonderful memories!
While I have many great memories of my Grandmother. One of my greatest memories is of canning vegetables, mainly tomatoes with her and my Mom. She wouldn’t let you help at all if your were on your cycle! Have you ever heard of that?! It’s so beyond time we all get back to that!
After my mother died the neighbor lady told me she would can my tomatoes for me when I was on my period. I thought she was a bit off. Every jar I put up during that time (lots of jars) did not keep. Never did that again. Must be something in the bodies chemistry that changes to cause them to spoil. Not sure what but it has been the only time my tomatoes spoiled.
Well then I guess Grandma knew exactly what she was talking about!! Thanks for sharing!
I like what you are doing and the promotion of a healthy simple person to build healthy families, neighbors and communities. You are a good example of what one person can accomplish with a little progressive educating seldom found in the public.
This week I watched 2 government employees poison plants because a few people in the neighborhood complained of overgrowth. I had hopes of the neighbors observing my efforts to turn on welcomed wild plants into compost for the good of the neighborhood and got strange looks when I asked to collect grass clippings from the landscaping crews working in our community.
If you have a successful strategies I would love to hear it. My goal is to win over enough members to prevent the spraying of chemicals for killing mosquitoes and weeds.
Thanks again for all your efforts and good philosophy!
I love most of what you are doing, Marjory, and I like watching your various videos (except for the hunting stuff). But I have to say, I’m always puzzled whenever I hear any gardening gurus talk about growing herbs “in your windowsill”. I hear that all the time, and I wonder what world everyone else is living in. I am 70 years old, and I think I was a child the last time I lived in a house or apartment that actually had windowsills wide enough to put plant pots on. In my world, those wonderful old windowsills just don’t exist anymore. I would love to do the herb thing like that, since I live in a townhouse and have no place to do an actual garden. But alas, my 1-1/2 or 2 inch windowsills just aren’t going to cut it.
Over the last several years our garden has grown a little larger each season, and I’ve found that we as a family are spending more and more time in the garden, whether it’s working in it or else just going outside for a walk in the garden to have conversations. There is something about the garden that brings out really meaningful conversations.
Last year I started drawing out new garden layout ideas to make it more of a living space with sitting areas and even a fire pit for those fall evenings around the fire. After several iterations I finally developed a design (on paper) with a patio/pergola area and a secondary fire pit area, and this year we as a family have been building it together (I have 4 teenagers in the house). The whole area is garden focused, within a circular pattern (quarter circle or fan-shaped) rather than my typical square/linear garden… and we had to put our heads together to take if from drawings on a paper to become an actual physical space. I have intentionally paused from time to time to ask my teenagers how they thought the best ways certain areas in the garden or patio could be built… and they have come up with really great ideas. We live in the city and I have a full time job, so we’re still not finished, but it’s coming along nicely. You’re right, preparing the ground, growing our food, preparing meals together and creating a beautiful space to do all these things have really strengthened our family. We are building more than a beautiful garden/living space, we’re building memories that will last a lifetime. Our kids have all said they would do some form of gardening when they move out… can’t wait to see how they build upon this lifestyle. Thank you for all you do!
My grandkids wanted a lemonade stand when staying this summer and we added sunflowers that I had an excess of in my garden. It turned out to be the bestseller. Each day we would cut more and longer stemmed flowers and they sold them amid so much praise and happiness from the neighbors. They made a beautiful sign, learned how to arrange the sunflowers so people would see them, gave advice on making them last longer. It was so cute. THe most amazing thing was that almost all the sunflowers this year were volunteers. I forgot to buy seed. I’m sure they will remember the ” lemonade stand ” this year.
Been busy with the harvest and have not watched many of the latest videos. Did watch this one and the crazy family one. In the past month, I have had the pleasure of having all my family here. Ex-step kids, adopted neighbor daughter, grand-daughters, daughter and grandson and great-granddaughters and great-grandson. What a true richness they have been in our lives. Over heard married granddaughters telling their unmarried cousin what they looked for in a man: “Find a man like Papa”. Now that is a legacy to be proud of.
I was not expecting all those people. We live all over this vast country. Many tears flowed when cars pulled in behind the daughter’s car (we were expecting her and the 8yr grandson). The first thing out of the granddaughters mouths the following morning was, “Can we pick beans? we have been talking about the time we snapped a wheelbarrow full of beans and how much fun we had.” I was good. Saved my hysterical laughter for later to share with Papa. You see, my memory is three girls acting like I had given them a death sentence because they had to snap all those beans!
That took me way back in time. Summers in the orchard. We had 40 acres in the middle of an ancient orchard. There was a dairy farm across the road and a beef farmer a mile down the road. I was blessed to be the only kid around. All the farm kids had grownup and moved to town. I learned so many things on those farms. My folks had a flower and vegetable garden. Nothing to the extent of those farm women. My earliest food memory is going into my Aunt Kate’s cellar to get beans for dinner. To this day I can see all those jars lined up with every food imaginable. I knew at three that was going to be my pantry some day. I learned bread making, butter making, canning and growing. Learned to tell when the wheat was ready to harvest. And I learned about life and death. The beef farmer and his wife took in foster kids. I remember a girl from the city. She looked half starved for affection and food. Word travels fast in small areas and I heard there was a girl my age (7). I went to see if she wanted to play. When I got there, Mrs. said she could play once all the beans were snapped. Mrs had two stoves one gas and one wood. Both were up and running. canning jars were everywhere…..close to a hundred. And there were five bushels of beans. That poor girl looked like she was going to cry. Probably felt like a slave. I asked if I could help and was told yes. We snapped those beans and told stories. The Mrs told about picking berries when bears still roamed the farm. I told that girl about Aunt Kate and her pantry….maybe she could see the pantry these beans would go into. Talked about how what we were doing was very important…..we were helping to feed the family. Feeling needed and a contributing member of a family is rooted in our DNA I think.
When I was a young mother we lived on another family farm. I can still see my Dad working the garden with the town kids. Sometimes I would have up to 20 children for lunch and non of them were mine. Mine had gotten their chores done and fled. My daughter called me Attila the Mom. Mine were required at age 8 to plan, shop for and cook one meal a week. They also learned to iron, wash clothes (with and without a washer) and harvest and preserve. One boy asked if I would make him something if he picked blackberries for me. He knew of a wild patch. I agreed and he returned with 3 five gallon buckets! All he wanted was one pie. Well he got much more than that. I look at Facebook and see these kids posts with their first tomato or other produce of the year. One fellow planted black raspberries just like mine (so he said). My daughter told me that she used to wonder why those kids hung around when I made them work so hard. She said she has figured it out, “We made them feel needed.”
The grand-kids that were here all had food related ideas for a good time at Nana and Papa’s: one wanted to learn how to make tapioca pudding from scratch, one wanted to make black raspberry jam, all wanted chocolate eclairs. Eldest step-grandchild said, “I miss cooking with you. You make the best food.”
These kids were very thoughtful. They brought food and perfume free care and laundry products. The food they provided was the best store bought can provide. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily food that is healthy for you. I went with the flow and ate what was provided. I woke up the following Monday feeling 35. NOT GOOD! I hurt everywhere and could not feel my fingers. I was not so gently reminded why I only eat what I grow or the wild plants God provides. Well the cheese is ready and I must stop here. Bless you for all you do.
Thanks, Marjory, for these great ideas. Thank you, also, for the ebook! I am learning so much. I hope y’all are safe from Harvey!
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