"The Clothes Line Garden Club" - A Permaculture Fable for Children by Willi Paul, Planetshifter.com

The life cycle of the Clinger family is geared to the Four Seasons

Planting seeds in the Spring

Watering the fields in the Summer

Harvesting crops in the Fall

Canning and repairing in the Winter

Round 'n' round they go-!

This spring Mom C. hands each kid a small paper bag of mixed seeds, collected from their farm.

"What's what in this crazy collection of seeds?" they exclaim.

"We'll see, won't we!" smiles Mom.

* * * * * * *

Each kid gets a small batch of land out back by the clothes line to raise a garden and each ponders how to tell what plants and flowers the seeds will grow. Photos are taken. They even ask Jude, their farm manager, what to do. Right now, they have only so much dirt and so much compost for this journey.

Summer comes quickly to this part of the country and sprouts of various thicknesses, colors and heights are coming through the soil and up to the Sun. The water bucket is busy!

The small paper bags of mixed seeds are now "head scratcher gardens" of tree saplings, flowers, beans, potatoes - and many weeds!

* * * * * * *

Mom Clinger helps the little farmers sort and separate the baby trees from the vegetable shoots, and puts the flower starts in the long sun-faded boxes in the front of their house. She teaches them where each type of plant community grows best and congratulates them on their stick-to-it-ness.

"Do you remember which seeds grew up to be what kind of plant?" she laughs.

* * * * * * *

The Moral:

You may never know what ideas will be important to you until you love them to life! Or: Diversity can come in small paper bags.