The Secret Garden Learning

When I was a kid I had a sign on my bedroom door that read "Pobody's Nerfect", and it's a mantra I continue to repeat to Kiddo (and myself) when that unhelpful little sprite that is Perfectionism strikes.

Because if we'd have needed our little garden to be perfect for growing, we'd be waiting forever. Instead, we made use of a sunny but disused patch of concrete next to the main road, stuck some beds on top of it, and got planting. Kiddo's garlic (or, as she labelled it, "galic" 🥰) was the first thing we sowed, and if the only thing we get from it is the excitement she's had watching it grow, then we'll take it. Although she is hoping for some homemade garlic bread come summer, so fingers crossed it's edible too.

If you want to grow food with your kids, just have a go. You don't need the 'perfect' space / knowledge/ gear - literally a bag of compost, some seeds and a container big enough to house whatever you want to grow. If, like us, you start with no expectations beyond just having fun being outside together with your hands in the soil, whatever ends up sprouting will be a happy bonus. And it might even be edible too - how cool is that?! 💚

I love it when kiddo starts a conversation like this. When she wants to chat about birds, or the different colours of violets, or if the pocketful of sheep's wool she's picked from brambly hedges will be enough to stuff a little doll.

Her favourite bird is a woodpecker. Lesser spotted. Mine is a robin. We listened for them both in the woods today, and luckily enough heard the woodpecker. The robins, of course, were all over the place, and so we stood for a while watching one warbling from a branch.

For us these are magical moments, huge discoveries, wonders of nature connection that make our hearts sing, life amazing and weekends dead good. Plus she had Quavers in her picnic, so it was one to remember.

🎵 Our first wassail 💚

Today, in the glorious Lancashire sunshine, kiddo and I donned our most colourful glad rags and headed down to a local allotment site to join in with our first community wassail.

And we are hooked! Singing and playing instruments together with such a fun and friendly bunch of folks, we mulled apple juice and poured it around the orchard trees and growing veggies in a blessing and offer of gratitude to the trees and life that surrounds us. Butterflies, sparrows and ladybirds fluttered about like they were joining in. It was definitely a moment.

Have you ever been wassailing? Or joined in with other pagan traditions in you community? I'd love to hear about them in the comments! 🌱

Thank you to for hosting this awesome event. We can't wait for the next one 🥰

💚 FROG RESCUE! 🥰

Is it spring until you've seen a frog?! Not in this house... so today we were super chuffed to bump into this little friend in the carpark of the local swimming baths! Kiddo was taking her time balancing along the wall, and if we hadn't been going at a snail's pace we probably wouldn't have spotted the frog, so that's an extra memo to me to remember that life's so much richer when you go kid-speed! 😄

But of course, car parks = cars, which are absolutely no good for a frog trying to get about their daily business, so thankfully they let me pick them up (so cute!) and walk them over the road to the nearest little wooded area.

Have you and your kids had any gorgeous wildlife encounters recently?

💗 World Book Day Prep 🐰

Little One is busy getting her costume ready for WBD next week. She's going as Isadora Moon, and sewing her own Pink Rabbit. Anyone else's kids into Isadora Moon? I'm a bigger fan of her mum, the nature-loving fairy 😆. Swipe to see the finished Pink Rabbit. Kiddo is rightly proud of her homemade new friend! 🪡

We've swapped out the winter transparency from our Toverlux lantern, slowly welcoming the brighter days! 🌞 Kiddo chose this one with the children reading together with the deer in the forest. Dreamy! 💚

🤸‍♀️ The best play dates include swinging upside down on a trapeze while overlooking the river! 😍

Do you have a home set-up that provides vestibular stimulating activities? If you do, please share details in the comments!

Snatched moments of nature appreciation on a travel-heavy day. There is always sky, a bird, a hedge, some weeds to marvel at, whereever I am.

🤩 The Great Annual Windowsill Takeover has begun!

What are you planning on growing this year with your kids?

🌸 So far we have first early and main crop potatoes chitting away, random sweet peas sown, and outside our overwintered garlic and broad beans are looking okay (take that, storms!)

I've challenged myself to not buy any new seed this year, apart from potatoes and onion sets, in an effort to make some headway into clearing the Seed Drawer of Doom ☠️. And because it's so full I can't rightly justify adding more to it!

Full disclosure: little one was going to help me sow these sweet pea seeds but then decided her mood was better suited to reenacting Malory Towers storylines with her Barbies, so it's so far been a solo effort! I'm hoping the harvesting part will garner more enthusiasm 🤞!

💪 PEOPLE POWER

Walking to walk and spot this little hidden patch, a community reclaiming their space, turning grey to green.

And look at that amazing DIY bottle eco-brick greenhouse?

Inspired 💚

✨️ Winter reset - I'm ready for it! This morning we've woken up, put our clocks back and are looking forward to cosy winter months focused on our little family.

The past few months has been a exercise in deciding which plates don't need to be kept spinning, and where my energy and focus is most necessary. My family, future generations, our natural world - everything goes into them.

So I'm excited to deepen my connections with you likeminded parents and educators, dipping into this platform every now and again as a springboard for real world, impactful action. For making life better (off our devices!) I can't wait to learn from you. And as I've recently begun studying in the world's first cohort of the Sustainability and Climate Education course, I'm excited to share some juicy nuggets about how we can prepare our children for the times we're in, bigging up positivity, action, generosity and community 💪.

So, let's begin: I'd love to know what nature-connected fun you're looking forward to with the kids in your world this autumn and winter! We've been making super simple paper halloween decorations for our windows - and the beauty of the sunrise shadows they cast on the curtains has been a pleasant surprise! 🧡