THE CORN PLANTERS

Planting gardens and trees touches a resounding chord in the body/heart/mind/soul symphony that is us – an expression of our connectedness to Earth and the Kingdom of Plants. The growing number of community and backyard gardens reflects a deep yearning in people living in cities. There are many layers to the beneficial effects when families and communities tend gardens.

The family value of planting, tending and harvesting a garden is more than the sum of its parts. One aspect is the research that often precedes and accompanies growing organic produce for the nutritional advantages. Another value is the joy of turning dirt into soil filled with organic matter that feeds the organisms that feed the plants. Then there’s the shared enjoyment of planting seeds and/or seedlings and watching them grow. The excitement over fruitage follows this, with the anticipation of the day of picking the ripe vegetable or fruit. And finally, it’s deeply satisfying to know that you are feeding your body, and your family’s bodies the best, the freshest, the most nutritious food you can offer.

But, as I said, the value of the process is greater than the sum of its parts. The book Hotevilla by Thomas Mails and the Hopi Elder Dan Evehema hold important clues as to this overarching benefit, especially for modern families living in modern neighborhoods. The painter E.A. Burbank, named “Many Brushes” by the Hopi, admired their industriousness and declared he had “never known a more charming, hospitable, and peace-loving people.”

Farming among the Hopi was the domain of the men and boys. The farms were handed down from generation to generation and were the joint property of the people of the village. From a young age the boys accompanied their fathers for the planting of the corn. They learned to offer heartfelt prayers for this, the first among a series of sacred steps. 

Because of the sandstorms the farmers had to build mound fortifications to protect the tender plants. Additional threats came from crows and ground rats waiting for a chance to eat the corn stalks. The farmers had to take turns standing as sentinels or waiting all day long in an adjacent hut watching for invaders.

When father returned home from the fields he often picked up his toddler to sing corn-planting songs and dance the gentle rhythms with his child in his arms.

When the corn matured all the children witnessed the next stages of food production, which the women and girls managed. By pulverizing the grain between two stones they ground the corn into a fine meal. Then the women and teen girls made “piki” together. After mixing the cornmeal with water and lye, they cooked the tortilla-like flat bread over a flat stone with a fire underneath. Stomachs surely rumbled as they smelled the bread, which they had all helped generate, cooking

Droughts taught the Hopi to store enough grain for two years.

Many children could name the herbs and their medicinal value with authority that approached that of the adults.

Have you gleaned all the life-lessons, all the intrinsic motivation, all the industrious sharing whole families can experience by planting, tending , harvesting, cooking and eating food they have nurtured from seed to fruit in their family plot?

Most of us are really glad to own labor-saving devices. However, in modern homes neighborhoods, there is very little for children to do. In many households their primary escape from boredom is a device that holds the body and mind captive for extended periods of time.

Today our idea of children’s household chores has devolved mainly into clean-up, something that many of us view as a tiresome, unpleasant addendum to an enjoyable activity. Do we want our children to perceive work as unpleasant and only entertainment as innately satisfying?

The health benefits of garden prep, tending and harvesting include healthful workouts that surpass gym routines in multilayered benefits. A family garden offers at least one shared household labor that can involve high-interest and participation in a process that is ongoing for a several months. Gardens can bring families together in labor that is meaningful and purposeful and therefore innately satisfying.

Although we may not hold ceremonial dances, as do the Hopi, to celebrate the harvest, gardens offer each family a reason to joyfully celebrate, each in their own way, the bountiful gifts of a Living, Generous World.  Such Joy is a Special Wisdom.