Growing
things seems natural, a distinctly human act, part of our desire to
reflect, build and create. But nurturing seems out of place in our
fast-paced, high-tech information age. Gardens foster connections based
on slow timelines,
much like learning.
I've
often thought all students and teachers should be required to grow
something, to understand the patience required and the long learning
curves of development. We all could benefit from planting seeds with
patience to see the flowers bloom.
Could
we be better off if businesspeople, lawyers, doctors and politicians
had to first pass a gardening test? Humility might be fostered alongside
some humbling harvests.
" David Mas Masumoto"
My
love for gardening grew very early in my childhood. I still remember
how much I insisted on having my own garden within my grandmothers and
mother's beautiful, large garden.
I
remember not liking to eat vegetables as much as I loved to grow them.
In fact, I don't remember ever eating fresh peppers from my mothers
garden, but I was so proud of my crop of peppers that I would eat them
just because 'I' grew them. I loved to stand in the middle of 'my'
garden admiring them as they grew and produced.
I
had to have some tomatoes in my garden! After all, what kind of garden
would be without tomatoes and parsley? Then, I planted a few onions just
to give
'my garden' a more 'mature' look.
Many years have passed since those days, and many things have changed, but one thing remai
- I still feel
- I still feel
'like a young child' when I am in my garden.......... maybe because it is still my favorite playground.
Vlada
Cooking and Kids
Growing our own healthier tomorrow
"Without memory,
there is no sense of what is lost."
I want to believe people still hold memories of great peaches. It's probably an older generation who knows how sweet, juicy ones taste. And I hope they don't forget!
I worry about children growing up without an appreciation of healthy flavors; they don't know the taste of a great peach or nectarine or plum. Their knowledge is based on what they've been exposed--a peach-flavored jelly bean or fruit roll-up. Sugar sweetness all too often becomes their criteria in judging taste.
David Mas Masumoto
Letters to the Valley
