A young girl was walking in a Carlsbad Village park with her mother and younger brother. She reached down to pick up a long brown object from the sidewalk. Rolling the pod around in her hand, she felt the bumps and crevices, and finding it interesting, she slipped it into the right-hand pocket of her pink sweatshirt.
A few steps later, peering down at the ground once again, she picked up another of the pods and placed it carefully in the left-hand pocket of her sweatshirt. Her brother, following big sister’s lead, found a matching pod on the sidewalk a few steps ahead. He walked over to his sister, handing her the magical object, which she added to the pocket treasures.
I imagined that they would return home later to place their newly found natural objects in their collection boxes. Their mother would browse their family reference, “The Book of Trees,” to find that the tree in question was a Giant Magnolia, which produces long, cylindrical pods, similar to pine cones.
And they learned a new French term, “objet de nature,” an object found in nature, such as stones, seashells, leaves and animal bones.
ARE WE ALL COLLECTORS?
I was reminded of my childhood summers and the time we spent at a small cottage on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. Our home was located five miles from the small Dutch-settled town of Cedar Grove with absolutely no technological amenities. We had no TV or computer, and a phone line that was rightfully called a “party line” — a line that the party on the phone shared with their neighbor.
This meant that as young teens, we could not talk to our friends in Milwaukee, which was over an hour away, and our phones were not equipped with long-distance service!
So, my brother and I quickly adapted by combing the beach for driftwood to add to our bookcases or gather in piles for our nightly bonfire. In this freshwater lake, almost 200 miles long, we often found fish skeletons, smooth rocks, feathers and even a piece of a sunken cargo vessel that sank two miles offshore in 1890.
COLLECTIONS TURN INTO PROFESSIONS
Little did I realize that the sunrises I observed as a child would later be recreated in watercolors in art school, or that my fascination with floral collections would eventually lead to a degree in horticulture.
SUMMER FUN FOR YOUNG COLLECTORS
Whether it’s a trip to the beach or a hike in the woods, North County offers a vast wonderland of free nature experiences for children. Early in the day, gather up a picnic lunch and give each child their own treasure bag. Allow your child to wander (within sight, of course), discovering treasures on their own.
After the day is done, bring out the reference books to identify their findings. You might just have the beginnings of a child who goes on to study botany or a related field.
BACK YARD HORTICULTURE
Giving a child a space that is all their own is the perfect start to growing young gardeners. Take your child on a trip to the garden center, preferably one of the smaller shops that allow children to wander freely.
START WITH A SMALL FRUIT
According to the staff at Armstrong Garden Center in Carlsbad, “Creating a strawberry pot is the perfect beginning for any young gardener. Choose a tall, clay strawberry pot that has 3-inch holes on all sides of the pot.”
Ask your garden staff to demonstrate how the strawberries fit into the holes, with their trailing stems hanging off the side of the pot, and have them suggest the correct soil for the job, as well as watering requirements.
In our North County climate, with warm spring and summer temperatures, many varieties will produce all summer into fall, and your child will have created their first horticultural project!
We will keep you posted with more family garden projects this summer; send us some of your favorites at [email protected].
Jano Nightingale is a Master Gardener and horticulturist who teaches vegetable gardening at the Pine Avenue Park Community Garden. Contact her at [email protected] for upcoming classes and private consultations.
