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are born gardeners.
From the time they can walk, they move about the garden
distributing seeds while making wishes on dandelion heads or
waving their wands made from the flowering canes of grasses or
woody perennials gone to seed.
They pick the most vibrant of flowers and drop them off in
areas where they may not normally reseed. They till the soil with
their bare hands. They compact it as they stampede like wild
ponies through open spaces. They spread the garden love by
transplanting worms that can turn any soil into metaphoric gold,
and they graciously relocate caterpillars and other munching
insects unwanted on ornamentals, herbs and vegetables.
Nurturing and actively encouraging such fervor for the natural
world and the creative energy wrought from it
is one of the greatest gifts we can give to our
children, says Wrightsville Beach resident Julie
Hurley. She home schools her son, Jackson, age
6, and believes that feeding the wonderment
that lives in children can foster a more secure foundation for
learning.
“I garden with Jackson because gardening is pure magic,”
Hurley says. “It’s archetypal. It’s mystery. It’s science. It’s the
whole entree.”
Jackson’s fondness for gardening is more accentuated than
most children his age. A gift of bulbs from a friend lights him
up much the way the latest action figure would excite other kids.
A child-sized shovel and rake near a friend’s vegetable garden
trumps most other play-date activities. Although his love of
growing things is an obvious blessing, the spatial challenges of
Hurley’s small lot have made cultivating his affinity for gardenhildren
Above: Julie Hurley’s son, Jackson, tends to one of his beds in a freestanding
planter at home in Wrightsville Beach. Julie and Jackson add texture and
color to their outdoor spaces with fabric and found objects like shells and
driftwood.
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