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Garden Gate:  connecting w/ nature  |
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westernhorse51
True Blue Farmgirl
1681 Posts
michele
farmingdale
n.j.
USA
1681 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 15 2007 : 06:23:02 AM
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I love gardening as many of us do & it's because of that connection to nature. I was watching Terri Erwin (wife of croc guy) and she was telling Larry King how her late husbands goal was to get people back to nature. How most kids today don't catch birds in their back yards or nurse them back to health. How were all afraid of germs & getting dirty. She is so right, kids have so much in their bedrooms now there's no reason to leave! My sisters thought I was mean when my daughter was younger because I wouldn't put all that stuff in her room (tv's video games, etc.) I wanted her out playing, getting dirty, finding bugs, gardening her own little area. Now shes almost 16 and shes a teenager but she'll come back to all that someday like I did cause thats what I grew up with. Gardening, even when it fails, helps keep us grounded, in tune w/ nature & it's cycles. I think it's so sad that a kid isn't outside on those perfect days catching bugs, butterflies only to let them go, digging in the dirt etc. they are missing out on physical activity but mental also. The sun gives vitamin D & being indoors all the time can't be good for anyone.
she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13 |
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GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2007 : 07:50:41 AM
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you know, I just gave away a tv on Freecycle. It awas a perfectly useable one, but we don't use it and haven't for almost two years. We still have one but we got rid of it. One woman-the first woman in fact, to reply to my ad,wanted it for her TWO YEAR OLD SON'S bedroom!!!! I passed the request by because I could never contribute to that. What does a two year oldneed a tv in his bedroom for? oh, that's right, so you don't have to work to lull him to sleep....so you don't have to entertain him during the day...tvs are banned from the upstairs of our home. My neices and nephews (and I guess this could be linked to the W/S education and attachment parenting thread in a way) all got all manner of electronic gadgets for the holiday, I have heard that they are bored to death now, only a few weeks later. I am so thankful that my kids play how they do and WANT to be outside instead of parked in front of the TV...it makes me so sad when I hear about the obesity rates among kids and each time a new electronic gadget is put out to appeal to kids. WHy do they need this stuff?
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose
blogs: http://gaiarose.wordpress.com
http://frugalwitch.wordpress.com
http://tasharose365.wordpress.com/ |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2007 : 08:03:02 AM
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We have never bought into that tv/computer in my bedroom mentality either. I have always encouraged outdoor activities and made that a family activity whenever possible. Almost every child my son knows has both tv and computer in their room. I hear "It's so much easier than listening to the kids fight". HELLO...how are they ever going to learn about compromise and team work (let alone proper social discourse...) if they are all locked away in their ivory towers?
Life is not about always getting your own way and the sooner they learn that the better. Let alone all the other negative things that go along with allowing those things. AI YI YI... I was outside whenever humanly possible and dreaming about it the rest of the time!
Nature is far more interesting!
with a happy heart |
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Woodswoman
True Blue Farmgirl
512 Posts
Jennifer
Altamont
NY
USA
512 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2007 : 08:19:31 AM
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I agree-and what an important topic.
I am a science teacher-and something that is a high priority for me is to get these kids outside observing nature. I hear so many of them talking, and often I hear things about the tv's, computers, etc. they have in their rooms. They spend so mutch time watching tv, playing computer games, instant messaging each other, etc. It gets a little depressing sometimes.
I guess I've kind of made it my personal mission to try to get them out in nature as much as possible, and hope that some of what I do does actually make a difference. I hope.....
Jennifer |
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knewslady
True Blue Farmgirl
555 Posts
Kathy
Russellville
KY
USA
555 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2007 : 08:27:51 AM
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I was very fortunate in that my kids never did care for television that much. They always preferred going outside to being cooped up inside. And on those rainy days, or the weather too cold, we built play houses inside the house with quilts and blankets. My grandmother and a dear great aunt always did that for me and my sister when we were small and I loved it. My kids loved it too. I don't know if it made a difference or not but I didn't have some of the problems other mothers had with their teenagers when mine reached that golden age. They always chose fishing, hunting, horse back riding, or going for walks in the woods over going to town to "hang out." I'm thankful I had red-neck kids.
Kathy
Will always be a farmgirl at heart |
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Nance in France
True Blue Farmgirl
1438 Posts
Nancy
St. Laurent de la Salanque
France
1438 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2007 : 08:31:17 AM
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| You guys are so right on! If you go along with the mainstream thinking you let the TV babysit your kids while you do something else. ALSO the TVs in bedrooms certainly will foster the 'ivory tower, me me me' mentality because you never have to share. And it also builds a society of loners who lose the innate ability/desire to communicate with REAL people. TV has so much to offer, but it is like most other things; good in moderation.....too much TV and too much chocolate will both make you ill! Jennifer, good for you in your quest to get the kids more interested in nature. They will benefit from your efforts for the rest of their lives. Nature teaches us so many valuable lessons, the tender happiness of taking care of a little animal or bird, the thrill of seeing a plant poke through the ground where you planted a seed, hatching butterflies, etc. What's that old saying, "When the world wearies and ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden".... Amen! Nance |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2007 : 08:42:56 AM
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This is a great subject--more so because we're women. I just read an article that, in school, girls are (typically) lower scoring in matters of science and mathematics. My love relationship with nature was encouraged by my parents... My parents really believed (that unless it was PBS or National Geographic) it really wasn't worth watching. You could find my father and I every evening before dinner, studying "geography" when he spread out world maps or the globe and quizzed me on river sources and anything else he could think of. I caught the bug of fossil hunting as a little girl, and my husband and I still spend most agreeable weather weekends in the creek behind our house searching for those elusive specimens...We have bell jars and terrariums covering birds nests and feathers, and large cephlapods on our desk.
In the summer as a little girl, I was quite literally out of the house by 8:00 am, sometimes dressed up in high button shoes and victorian dresses, lugging a hamper lunch (with time-appropriate food!!), specimen jars and sketchbooks for all the birds and "flora and fauna" I found. My poor friends-- I was always able to rope them into going with me--there was plenty of vintage clothes to go around!
My mother strongly encouraged me to stay out most of the day, usually back inside just before dusk. Whenever we would come to the door on hot days, whining, "it's hot", "I'm tired", "We're bored", whatever, she would open the back door just a crack and stick popsicles out and say, "go on, now, get the stink blown of ya!!
We JUST got a computer as a gift for Christmas, and it's already driving me insane that my husband can't pull himself away from it--I really didn't want one since I work on one all day, and sit inside for 8 hours.
I've often thought of studying horticulture, or getting my degree in archeology....sure wish I could afford to!
Just think of all of the roads there are...all of the things I haven't seen....yet. |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2007 : 11:13:22 AM
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I couldn't agree more with all that has been said above. I am a public school teacher and I see - everyday - kids that don't know how to play! All they talk about is TV. Fortunatly Hunting is pretty big around here so that gets a lot of the kids outside when they get a little older but the young ones just sit infront of the TV. I remember my mom bribeing us with stuff to get us to come INSIDE now it seams just the opposite.
In the winter we tend to stay in more especially lately since it has done nothing but rain but once school gets out we practically live outdoors. we have a pool which keeps us occupied. Plus there is gardening and animals to take care of too. We are thinking about getting some Llamas and sheep in the spring and maybe trying our hand at a milk cow. Most people just look at us like we are crazy when we say this!!!!
Jewelry, art, baskets, etc.
www.willowtreecreek.com |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2007 : 08:02:48 AM
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My daughter was raised outside, with animals and gardening. She grew up watching me milk, can, train horses and hike. She did a lot of that stuff too.
Now that she has kids of her own, TVs are forbidden in the bedroom. They never bothered to get cable; they watch stuff from the library or Netflix. They also homeschool, and the eldest got his first library card at age five.
When her kids come to visit, they want to head outside! They have great imaginations and prefer to make up their own stuff. They do act a bit squeamish about bugs like city kids do, but as they age I know they'll get past a lot of that. What my daughter craves more than anything is some rural property with sheep. I know her kids will turn out fine. It feels good to know that.  |
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Nance in France
True Blue Farmgirl
1438 Posts
Nancy
St. Laurent de la Salanque
France
1438 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2007 : 10:17:35 AM
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| What a bunch of kindred spirits we are.....no surprise, huh? Jonni, I would have loved to be one of your playmates back then. Where did your mom get all the vintage clothes? I'm with you about the computer at home. When I worked all day at one the LAST thing I wanted to do was come home and "log on"...."veg out" for a half hour was more like it til my tired eyes felt regenerated and I started dinner! I love the idea of your decorating style. I have birds nests nestled here and there, usually paired with stone or resin birds I can't resist when I see them. When I first moved into my home, which was my paternal grandma/great maiden aunt's home, I found a glass specimen jar in the basement with a milkweed pod inside that had burst open to show the seeds; this jar and pod is at least 50 years old now and I proudly display it on my living room bookshelf. My great aunt was a school teacher all her career and boy she'd have fit RIGHT IN here. It seemed like she could do anything. Have a great day OFFline and OUTside!! Nance |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2007 : 11:37:49 AM
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Nance--I'm tellin' ya, we are long lost siblings! I would have loved to have you as a girlfriend when I was young--they always seemed to enjoy my hairbrained schemes after they were along, but GETTING them to be interested was the hard part! My mom collected all these pretty vintage clothes, and she was also wearing early Jessica McLintock and Scott Mclintock gunne sax dresses--they were more like prairie style clothes then, so I had a bunch of those that she trimmed down to kid size, too. Remind me to tell you about the time I made them dress up like prairie kids and we went to explore and collect "evidence" from this "old" (but still inhabited!!!) log house near our subdivision. You've never seen little girls run so fast under and slide under an electric cattle fence when we figured out people still lived there!
It's so nice to hear that someone else has their nature specimens out for display--we also have a large hand turned wooden bowl on pedestal that is filled to the brim with full brachiopods and birch bark, and some dried thistles for texture. I love the way it looks, though folks who come to our house only say, "wow, you guys sure do like fossils". I also have my great aunt's sketchbook from 1913 when she was in school. It's so important to me--I'd like to separate some of her drawings for framing, but am too afraid to hurt the book. She kept it all those years intact, I guess so should I!!
Just think of all of the roads there are...all of the things I haven't seen....yet. |
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Garden Gate: connecting w/ nature |
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connecting w/ nature
