Joy and Community Gardens

I had never been inside a Community Garden until yesterday. I went to Vancouver to spend time with my friend. I brought all my children and she has two. We joined forces for the day. This friend I met when I was nineteen but it feels like we have been friends since the beginning of time. We have had the privilege of our children knowing each other since birth. We have daughters born in the same year and sons born a year apart. She is now expecting again and this baby will be a year younger than my youngest. This lovely soul sister of mine lives just steps away from a Community Garden. Now first of all I have to say that yesterday when we observed different back yards around her neighborhood it was absolutely mind blowing what people can accomplish with a postage stamp for size. My friends neighbor had a massive garden with an apple tree, fig tree, numerous vegetables, a beautiful gazebo type structure and it was enchanting. My friend's husband was in the midst of building a play house for his children and I just felt inspired and convicted. My back yard is a meadow compared to these back yards and I have done nothing with it. My husband planted some planters for me and has put in some blueberry bushes but all year I have done nothing in my back yard. I have new eyes to see I guess.
Anyway steps away is a Community Garden. It was rainy yesterday and when the children were starting to get squirrly my friend took them to the garden. I was baking cookies but when I was done I took the baby and went over. I am so glad I did. It was so incredibly beautiful. It was in the height of all its splendor. You could see where raspberries had been in abundance and someone had picked all the blueberries. I observed that beans needed to be picked desperately so we spent a bit of time harvesting them. The children could have spent hours in the garden. It inspired them to come up with so many games. One of the games was making rhubarb soup. We picked rhubarb and then the time that was consumed with cutting and mashing and 'making' this soup was impressive. Another game was 'store' the currency was honeysuckle and they used that to purchase fennel and chives. In this garden there were tables to sit at, bright little signs and figurines to decorate it and a tiny building with a porch that we used for shelter from the rain when needed. There were bees in abundance buzzing. There were pumpkins, squash, beets, carrots, lettuce,kale, beans, cucumbers, peas, onion, garlic, all sorts of herbs and so much more. There was so much beauty. The garden session ended in an open umbrella being filled with all sorts of salad ingredients that my oldest and my friend's youngest picked. They then went home and made the salad. These moments today felt like the purest forms of fun. The children were so inspired by all the different colors, tastes and opportunities. They were happy and nourished and you could seem them blooming. What a special summer day. As my ten year old said, 'I hope I never forget this day.' As a mother you hope to fill your children's hearts with plenty of these moments. Where their hearts of full to bursting with friends, gardens, and a day they always want imprinted on their hearts because they were so happy.