Thursday, April 12, 2012

The Acquisition of Knowledge

Funny how there are so many things we take for granted kids will know. Like the difference between a rock and a chunk of dry dirt. Cubby and I spent several minutes in the garden today inspecting chunks of dirt, crumbling them up and chucking them at the wall to see if they would break up. If they broke, that was dirt. Dirt stays in the garden. Rocks, which don't crumble up or break on the wall, can be thrown over the fence. Dirt in, rocks out.

So elementary, and yet . . . not. When you're two years old.

Also on today's curriculum: What's a weed (goddamn dock plants) and what's something we can eat (arugula); why only plants and not people go into the raised bed (soil compaction and killing plants); why it's a bad idea to pound on the metal parts of the lawn tractor with a hammer (dents leading to rust) but the rubber tires are okay; why it's best to pull up dandelion plants before the pretty yellow flowers turn into evil, fluffy seeds that try to take over the garden; why blackberry plants require caution (thorns, like the rose bush or a cactus) and on and on and on.

I never thought I would make a very good teacher, yet here I am.

Incidentally, if you would like a child you know to learn about vegetable gardens, the MiL's friend (hi, Becky!) just sent Cubby a great book called Two Little Gardeners. It's one of those Little Golden Books classics, written in 1951 by Margaret Wise Brown, the author of Good Night Moon, and another lady named Edith Thacher Hurd. Anyway, it's a very nice little book all about growing vegetables. It's pretty detailed, and Cubby and I have had many discussions already about all the tools used in the garden (all of which he knows) and all the vegetables grown in the garden (all of which he also knows, and eats).

So this book, along with the A.A. Milne books, gets the Blackrock Seal of Approval. For whatever that's worth.

And now I think I shall go recline on the couch for awhile. It's getting hard to bend over to pull weeds, and my legs are protesting this morning's mild labors already. It's going to be a long three more months . . .

5 comments:

flask said...

hi. i don't have anything to say besides that i read every one of your posts and you are about seven different kinds of awesome for your life and for the stunning and beautiful way you write about it.

i wish i had some witty contribution or some actual conversation to make with you, but for now it will just have to be enough to say that i am reading and that i very mush appreciate the opportunity.

Lindsey at NW Backyard Veggies said...

Margaret Wise Brown also wrote Runaway Bunny - currently in heavy rotation at our homestead.

Except for the page that says "If you turn into the wind and blow me..." which always elicits adolescent snorts and contained laughter from the H and I alike.

The teaching thing is so true. You throw the chicken feed OVER the fence so the chickens can eat it, not on the floor...etc, etc, etc.

Let's just say that your "hobby" right now is growing and cultivating two smart, compassionate and thoughtful members of this society. Sounds good to me!!

Becky said...

So glad you and Cubby are enjoying the Two Little Gardeners. I always loved following the dog and looking for the insects and other critters--
not to mention the secure feeling the stocked pantry at the end still gives me when I look at it. The illustrator lived on an old farm in New Jersey--so not that far from your old farm. She also did (among others) the Golden Songbook which has 60 classic children's songs and wonderful illustrations.

Daisy said...

He's going to be such a smart young man! And I do mean smart in the practical sense, rather than book smart.

Jilly said...

I don't think I've ever posted before, but I'm in Australia and have been following along since around the time Cubby was born. I read this post the other day and today took my kids to the grocery store where we found a temporary bargain bin full of Little Golden Books. And there, right on top, was the Two Little Gardeners. I love the way the Universe works. I'll remember this connection whenever we read it.