Planting Seeds

This week’s Super Moon invites us Super Moms to reflect, find clarity, and consider fresh approaches. Coupled with the fickle snowy/sunny weather, the changing season beckons us to look around, look within, notice. There are so many ways to mimic springtime’s rejuvenation – what would you like to create?

As an individual, I plant seeds for my own growth (I’ve planted the “morning meditation” seed about a hundred times!). As a mother nurturing my two sprouts, I seek new seeds to plant in their hearts and heads (currently, seeds for gratitude and help around the house). As a nutritionist, I reflect upon how I’m planting seeds to develop curious eaters and to inspire positive relationships with food.

After winter’s stagnation and the never-ending COVID season, my kids and I could use a fresh approach to the food routine in our house! Sometimes, yes, I have the entire week’s meals planned, sourdough starter fermenting, and homemade-something-with-chocolate-and-nuts ready for an after-school snack. Some days, they are eager to help build their lunches. But these days, my fridge typically lacks veggie inspiration, the kids want noodles every day, and whole-foods dinners incite countless complaints.

To model good behaviors, how do we foster food values while involving kids in food experiences without reprimand or frustration?

How do we release our obsession for perfectly balanced meals and remain nonjudgmental when children refuse to eat? More proactively, how can we turn meals into teaching moments?

Plant seeds. This simple act bears many benefits. Planting seeds about food can shift how families talk about and appreciate food.

Start with the senses and rely on nature. Children experience the world through their senses; when they can grow food, new perspectives arise. For example, when kids connect a radish on their plate to the radish they watched sprout and later uprooted with soil, bugs and worms, their eating behaviors can transform.

Benefits of plantings seed with children:

1.     Playing with dirt.

2.     Cultivating connection with nature’s miraculous process.

3.     Learning science and marveling about the earth.

4.     Tuning in to the seasons with mindfulness.

5.     Reminding ourselves of the time, effort and resources needed for something to germinate, sprout, grow and mature.

6.     Learning patience.

7.     Slowing down.

8.     Enjoying quality time together.

9.     Discovering food in a tangible, inquisitive way.

10.  Reveling in the tiny life a child helped to grow.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a green thumb – I’m a terrible gardener. I love preparing soil and planting seeds but unlike with my kids or chickens, I sometimes neglect the garden. Note: you needn’t plant an entire garden to reap the benefits of your labor! Choose a seed-planting project that is doable – anything intentional will result in an experience you can ponder at the dinner table.

Seed planting ideas:

1.     Plant herb seeds in pots on your front porch.

2.     Use an egg carton to grow starts in a sunny window.

3.     Grow microgreens in your kitchen (where you won’t forget to water them).

4.     Convert a small space in your yard to an experimental kid garden (faeries welcome).

5.     Plant & water different dried beans in separate jars to see which ones will grow.

6.     For an extension of nature’s wonder, plant seeds of pollinator-attracting flowers.

Encourage children to choose heirloom or organic seeds that become edible plants – leafy greens and others with a shorter growing season. Gather ingredients and tools together. Whether or not you’re a parent, plant the seed with intention, perhaps as a metaphor for what you would like to cultivate in your life. Tend to it daily. Watch it grow.

If these tips resonate and if you try any of them at home, I invite you to share them with me either on my group Facebook page, Conscious Food Community, or tag me on Facebook or Instagram!