Posted by Dorine King on June 11th, 2016 in Cooking, Gardening with Intention, Uncategorized

Gardening with Intention

A natural and intentional lifestyle is an important part of your Rx for health and happiness. Eating as clean and organic as we can afford should be top priority for all of us.

My youngest daughter has taken up this mantle.

When my kids were little, their dad and I had a garden. We grew enough vegetables in this little back yard garden (15 x 20-feet) to feed our family of 5 for almost the entire year. I remember having to start buying vegetables and tomato sauce at the store again around April or May – Then a new garden would be planted.

Our kids helped plant, weed and harvest this garden every year. As they grew older my youngest was the only one who enjoyed (there is that word again!) the canning and freezing process. She now owns all my canning jars and most of my equipment.

We reap what we sow.

My intention was to instill a love of honest work, a realization of where our food comes from, and to show my daughters how to be responsible for their own health.

Recently, my middle daughter began a small garden in her suburban back yard, mostly growing tomatoes, carrots, radish, cucumber and onion – oh the joys of a salad garden! I am now on the other spectrum of things and have reverted back to planting tomatoes in pots.

My youngest daughter lives in northern Minnesota and has many acres. They are intentionally choosing to use their gardens as a form of teaching, relaxation and to nurture themselves and their families.

Living life with intention is being purposeful and joyful and living in the present as much as possible.

If we have no purpose our lives can become a waste of time. We all have hopes and dreams, and these are the beginning of intention. We make a plan based on our hopes and dreams. We dream of the life we want, we make plans and goals along the way and pretty soon – we are living that life we imagined.

In order to achieve this life of intention, we have to believe that our goal or intention is achievable. Without belief and faith we won’t accomplish what we set out to do. We need to be able to visualize the outcome.

Using the garden examples above, if my daughters didn’t actually believe they could break the ground or build the parameters and borders of their gardens, they would not have dug that first shovel of dirt. Both of them are visualizing the food they grow in those gardens. They are seeing that food on their table and nurturing their families.

Your intention should take you within your hopes but beyond your dreams.

Back to the garden examples – my youngest daughter’s intention is to fill her freezer and pantry shelves with healthy organic foods. She wants to know exactly where her food is coming from and her ideal life is to live off the grid. Looking at her garden and knowing the amount of effort she puts into that hope and dream, I’m guessing she is living her intentions and I’m pretty sure this garden will flourish beyond her dreams (my hope is that some of it will end up in MY freezer!).

My middle daughter wants to teach her boys a bit of responsibility and for them to know the satisfaction and joy of eating the fruits of their labor – literally! She has intentionally made her garden small enough for them to manage it and for her to manage their busy summer life. She has no desire to spend hours and hours in her kitchen prepping, canning and freezing vegetables. Her intention is to spend quality time with her boys while they are young enough to still want to hang out with her. Her dream is that they will always want to come home. Watching how she is raising her boys, my guess is that the boys will flourish well beyond her dreams!

Each one of these young woman has set her intention for these gardens. Each one of them has a dream for their gardens.

Each one of them is living her life intentionally.