Excerpt from Sowing Seeds, Growing Our Future: A Children’s Herb Garden

by Kathryn Higgins

The garden is a classroom that encourages curiosity and discovery. The plants then become the teachers. With their hands in the soil, young gardeners gain an active role in personal and planetary well being, through the tactile connection with the earth. Gently placing seeds in the ground and caring for them fosters an important understanding of the three R’s in this classroom — responsibility, reconnection and respect.

It takes responsibility to grow an herb from a seed to fruition. Plants have needs that enable them to grow just like a child has needs in order to grow: fertile, vitamin and mineral rich soil, water, sunshine and plenty of open space, in which to thrive to maturity. This careful attention is rewarded not only with gifts of the harvest, but also a gift of knowledge. This knowledge empowers every gardener, young and old, with the how-to ability to nurture themselves with homegrown food, medicine and body care.

A garden cultivates the reconnection with Mother Earth and her plants — plants that are vital to life here on Earth. In the garden, a seed of understanding is planted, the insight into the interconnected web between a plant, oneself and life. The vitality of the plants reflect the vitality of a place, be it a yard, a neighborhood or a city. Awareness of this interdependence is simply present in a garden. Through parental example and the garden’s backdrop, children begin to see the impact of all their actions, like their footsteps and handprints in the soil. They learn through observing what their actions create. Never underestimate the power of a child to change the world. It is their heritage!

A child sees a state of reverence in a garden: miracles of creation housed within seeds, powering plants to grow. Like the seed, we have that same power within us to grow our fullest potential.