1KHO 625: Childhood Grows Best in a Garden | Sharon Lovejoy, Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Episode: "1KHO 625: Childhood Grows Best in a Garden | Sharon Lovejoy, Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots"

Host: Jenny Yarridge
Guest: Sharon Lovejoy
Date: November 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this heartfelt and inspiring episode, Jenny Yarridge welcomes beloved garden author and illustrator Sharon Lovejoy for her third appearance on the show. Together, they explore the powerful, lifelong impact that gardens and nature can have on childhood—and why it’s never too early or too late to start gardening. With practical tips, touching personal stories, and an exploration of Sharon's influential books (such as "Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots"), the episode underscores how nature time can transform families across generations. Listeners will come away motivated to create garden memories, big or small, with the children in their lives.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Timelessness and Universality of Gardens

• Gardening for All Ages:
  • Gardening knows no age limit. Letters to Sharon have come from three-year-olds and even a ninety-six-year-old starting her first sunflower house ([02:39]).
  • Sharon: "If it’s indeed true what you say, that you’re never too old to be a child at heart, this will be my best year ever." ([02:39])
• Generational Influence:
  • Sharon shares how her grandmother’s daily garden walks instilled lifelong wonder and knowledge in her, rippling through to her son and grandchildren ([07:13], [12:33]).
  • Creating memories in nature can transcend generations.

2. The Power of Starting Small and Dreaming

• Encouraging New Gardeners:
  • The winter months are for dreaming and planning, which is just as valuable as planting ([01:47]).
  • Sharon’s books provide accessible entry points, suggesting easy and enchanting projects like egg carton seedlings and “garbage gardens” ([15:39]).
  • Jenny: "These books, they entice you to become a part... It has added so much to our life." ([04:00])
• It’s Never Too Late:
  • The theme that there is always enough time—with five minutes a day, families can sow “miracles and mysteries” in their lives ([14:01], [10:47]).

3. The Garden as Sanctuary, Teacher, and Playground

• Nature’s Toys Over Store-Bought Items:
  • Sharon discusses the limitless natural toys and crafts: acorn boats, trumpet vine dolls, walnut sailboats, leaf people, and more ([24:25]).
  • Sharon: "There are limitless possibilities. And they’re all free. They’re all free." ([24:56])
• Difference Across Generations:
  • Sharon notes how outdoor children's activities have changed; kids now interact less with neighborhood nature, and play is often more solitary ([20:03]).
  • The importance of keeping nature at the center of childhood: "It's part of the fabric of who we are. We're humans, but we're also... part of this earth." ([20:03])

4. Wonder, Curiosity, and the Little Miracles

• Focusing on Tiny Things:
  • Both host and guest reminisce about discovering the miracles in small details: poppies closing at night, tiny insects, the color and hidden patterns in seeds and bulbs ([09:29], [45:28]).
  • Sharon: "Write down one little miracle that you see and learn about it." ([10:47])
• Tools for Discovery:
  • Magnifying glasses and jeweler’s loupes are encouraged to get closer looks at nature’s wonders ([07:13]).

5. Practical Wisdom: What to Grow with Kids

• Starting Points for Success:
  • Sharon shares her "Top 20" easy-to-grow plant list (featured in Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots), prioritizing fun, fast-growing, and colorful selections ([41:00]).
  • Listener favorites include zinnias, sunflowers (including pollen-rich varieties), lamb’s ear, ground cherries, “moon and stars” watermelon, apple cucumbers, and strawberry popcorn ([40:03], [44:20]).
  • The magic of growing both edible and sensory-rich plants: calendulas, fruit trees, bulbs, and “toys” like birdhouse gourds ([51:05], [45:00]).

6. Mirrored Lessons Between Seeds and Childhood

• The lifecycle of a garden seed becomes a poetic metaphor for generational love, learning, and hope.
• Jenny: "It's really parallel to the seed... you plant these seeds in your children's life... and you never know how far they're going to sprawl out the vines." ([58:02])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Age and the Power of Beginnings:
  • "Even starting at age three is too late for children… I started taking [my son] out when he was just a few days old." – Sharon Lovejoy ([02:39])
• On the Ripple Effects of Nature Connection:
  • "It is like throwing a giant rock into a still pond. You just get those ripples, ripples, ripples all the way out to the cattails." – Sharon ([12:33])
• On Small Wonders:
  • "Every little thing that you watch... that can turn into a book for a child that turns into volumes and volumes of joy." – Sharon ([10:47])
• On the Limitless Nature of Outdoor Play:
  • "The garden provides all this massive variety of things for kids to play with. And they are in abundance. You don't have to be worried that they're going to ruin it—another one's going to grow." – Jenny ([23:38])
• On Every Season Bringing Opportunity:
  • "Whenever you're listening to this episode, there's so much that you can do. It might be a time of dreaming, or it might be a time of getting your seeds together. Might be a time of harvesting." – Jenny ([30:34])
• On the Now and Tradition:
  • "We all need childhood." – Sharon ([34:26])
• The Magic and Miracle of Growth:
  • "From one seed came all these colors. And she mulled over it for a really long time… how are there all these colors out here?" – Jenny ([32:29])
• On Passing Down Experiences:
  • "Each seed is a promise. Some people call seeds treasure boxes because they hold the treasure of life, food, health, and beauty. We see seeds every day without really seeing them at all." – Sharon reading from her book ([45:28])

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Practical Takeaways & Tips

Starting Your Own Family's Nature Legacy

• Anyone, any age, can begin a journey in the garden. There is wisdom in starting small—egg carton seedlings, windowsill "garbage gardens," or growing easy favorites like zinnias and sunflowers ([15:39], [41:00]).
• Keep the spirit alive throughout seasons: plan and dream during winter, plant and play during spring and summer, and harvest and reflect in autumn ([01:47], [30:34]).
• Collect and use natural materials for year-round crafts and exploration, and encourage curiosity with simple tools like magnifying glasses ([24:25], [07:13]).
• Make garden memories stick by photographing and recording children’s discoveries and voices ([33:04]).
• Look for plant varieties that provide sensory experience—something to smell, touch, taste, and wonder at ([45:00], [54:09]).
• Gift seeds, garden books, and experiences to others—these are the gifts that create ripples across generations ([56:41]).

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:41 — Sharon’s return, book introductions, impact stories
• 02:39 — Gardening is ageless & generational letters
• 07:13 — Grandmother's influence; focusing on tiny wonders
• 14:01 — The five-minute miracle & starting small
• 20:03 — Changing childhoods, need for outdoor play
• 24:25 — Nature’s toys and crafts from the garden
• 30:34 — Seasonal opportunities—dreaming, planning, harvesting
• 40:03 — Best plants to start with for children
• 45:28 — Seeds as “treasure boxes”, exploring bulbs
• 51:05 — Sensory-rich plants; lamb’s ear as a healing and playful favorite
• 54:09 — Lemon verbena, playful plant personalities
• 58:02 — The metaphor of seeds and intergenerational impact

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Tone & Message

The episode carries Sharon Lovejoy’s signature warmth, gentle wisdom, and wonder at small miracles. Jenny Yarridge’s enthusiasm and testimony as a garden-inspired parent provide a welcoming and motivational tone. Both speakers reinforce that nature is accessible, healing, and waiting for everyone—regardless of age or background.

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For New Listeners

This episode is an ideal primer for anyone hesitant to start gardening or questioning whether outdoor play is “worth it.” With pragmatic advice, personal encouragement, and poetic storytelling, it provides a roadmap for reclaiming and enriching childhood—one seed, one hour, and one moment at a time.

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Transcript

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[Jenny Yarridge]

Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. My name is Jenny Yarridge and I am beyond thrilled, so thrilled to let you know that Sharon Lovejoy is back for the third time. Sharon, thank you so much for being here.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

It's great. I forgot that it was the third time. That's wonderful.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yes. Your books have changed my life and truly changed my life. And I know you talk about that. People send you letters from all over the world. You were just saying how you got a letter from Tasmania and it was your book Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots. And I talk about your book when I travel. I speak sometimes and I always say it's a book. I believe every family should own every family. Because if you're an adult, you will just get drawn in if you are a child. The pictures are so whimsical. And I started down the road with fruit shoots, buckets and boots, but I also have a blessing of toads. I have running out of night. I have toad cottages and shooting stars. I have root shoots, buckets and boots. I have sunflower houses, which sadly is out of print, but you can still probably get a used copy somewhere, which it was reprinted 10 times. I have trowel and error. I have hollyhock days. And then I have your kids book that has all the colors in it. But that. That's in my kid. What's that one called? That's in my kids room.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Little green island with a little red house which was based on our house on an island in Maine.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yes, we have that one too. These have been a treasure, a treasure of my adult life. And I started gardening because of you and, and our garden is such a mess, but it brings so much joy. You were the catalyst for me and I know you're the catalyst for so many people. I'd love to kick it off. You know, this is going to be coming up in a time that's not technically gardening season, but I think you have to give your yourself time and space to dream. And these are the. These are the months to do it. You start to dream about what's going to come. So that you can plan and prepare. One of the things that you talk about a lot is that gardening is for every age. So can we kick it off? You know, you talk about, you got people that will write in the book. I'm 96 and, and I'm about to, I'm about to get started or I'm three year, you know, you got a three year old that's joining in. There is not much else in life, in life like that, is there?

[Sharon Lovejoy]

No. And you know, when you said that about 96, one year, I got a letter from a woman who, if it's indeed true what you say, that you're never too old to be a child at heart, this will be my best year ever. I'm planning my first sunflower house. I'm 96 years old. I just, I cried when I got that letter. I thought, that's great. And I think, you know, even starting at age three is too late for children. I. My son Noah, I started taking him out was when he was just a few days old. And I would talk to. I think we all know how important it is to talk and have conversation with children. What builds their literary skills, their speech skills? Well, I would take him out and I would build his gardening skills because I would take his little perfect pink hands and run them over the peppermint pelargonium or touch the lime geranium or, you know, all these different. And I would talk to him about it and I put his little hand up to his nose and he's a great gardener. He's a great gardener. He's 50 years old now, but he started gardening when he was a teenager. So I don't think that 10 days is. In fact, you could start it at two days. If you felt like getting up and walking around, take them outside and let them enjoy the garden. It's. It's just a wonderful experience.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yes. They can't be too old or too young. And our youngest daughter, because again, I missed some years. It, it was 1000% roots, shoots, buckets and boots that got me over my hump of being scared and instead gave me something to dream about. You know, I talk about, like I say, I speak all over and I'm like, I want to build a garden of giants. You know that this book of the Pizza Garden and the Sunflower House and the drawings, which are your drawings. And this is a great story. People can listen to some of the older episodes. But you had a teacher who discouraged you at school and was like, your drawings are too little. They're not ever going to be anything. And they are so whimsical. In fact, I saw even just a drawing in one of your books. Now, the Sunflower Houses is out of print now, but one of the drawings of just starting, the little plants in the cardboard egg cartons and you got the little sprouts coming out and you drew that and, and it's all there. These pictures that you've drawn are in all of these different books. So that's an encouraging story people can go back and listen to. But these books, they, they entice you to become a part. And especially our youngest, she, because she's been more immersed in the garden, she's got all this knowledge and she's so excited to go out there and look. We do the gourds like you say, and she'll draw little faces on them. And it has added so much to our life. Sharon, I would imagine that the stories that you get, people writing in their letters say that over and over again.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

It's, you know, unless you're Danielle Steele or some multi million bookseller person, you don't make a lot of money. You do it for passion and for love. And I do it because I love children, I adore children and I love it when people are gentle with nature and they start interacting with nature. So I do it for the gratification, just like drawing. You know, I, I know I'm not Renoir, but I do see things my way and interpret it my way. And luckily sometimes someone like you gets it and it's a good thing to be, to connect with someone that way. It's just a wonderful thing.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, the books from, from the topics that you talk about all the way to these just dainty but precious drawings. And they're good for all ages. Just like how the garden is, you say? One of my oldest and most delightful students said I wanted to come and learn about all of this before I got too old. I'm just 96 right now, so it's never too late. And I wanted to talk about your grandma, Sharon, because I do sometimes have some regrets just because I did. I feel like I started late, I was in my 30s before I read your book and I thought, my goodness, I could have had 15 years of really learning how to make this better. A little bit less chaotic. That's always my problem. Stuff is like growing everywhere, but still there's so much life there. There's butterflies and there's bees and there's praying mantis and there's frogs and there's finches and there's hummingbirds. So, you know, it doesn't matter that it's not, like, organized and there's no rows and everything's. Some stuff grew and stuff. Some stuff didn't grow. But I wish I would have started earlier, but then I read about your grandma and. And how impactful your grandma was on your life. And then I think, well, I've got time.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Well, you know, my grandmother loved Joy. All of my aunts were teachers and principals, and so I had the thumb of education on me all the time, books everywhere. But my grandmother took me out every day. Our little cottage was in a little veil right by her house. And her garden in Highland park was just, you could grow anything. And she did grow everything. And I remember a letter from the 1870s where my great, great grandfather said, in California. And I know some people don't like California, but it's not all the same in California. You know, it's spring when it's winter on the east coast, and we're growing all of these things. And my grandmother never took it for granted that here we are in the middle of winter, and we're able to harvest flowers and we're able to harvest lettuces. And she would take me out every day. And I'm sure that's probably why I took Noah out every day. Just for most common. Which are really not common. They're miracles for the most common occurrences. Like, I learned how a poppy will close at night and go to sleep. California poppy. And slowly open in the morning and flare out her dress during the day and then close up again at night. You know, she taught me all those things, and they're things that we overlook. And I guess because she focused on the tiny things. And that's what I've been focusing on for a new book, the Tiniest Things. That's what I've always focused on. The. The aphid wolf, which is the larva of a ladybird beetle, AKA ladybug. But ladybird beetle is the correct name. The aphid wolf, which we call the pumpkin bug. It looks like black and orange Halloween bug. All these things always had either a magnifying glass or a jeweler's loop. And these are invaluable. I don't know if you can see that, but these. You get your child's eye right on it. And get up within a half an inch of a plant or a leaf or. Or aphid wolf or something, and you can see everything. You know, magnifying glasses and loops are just wonderful to use.

[Jenny Yarridge]

It just makes me feel like. And, and maybe this was part of what drew me in. I almost feel emotional about it. Actually, what drew me in from the very beginning is because your grandma was so impactful on you. Like you say, my first memories of home are of a tiny redwood cottage tucked into a veil in my grandmother Abigail Baker Lovejoy's garden. The vine covered house was surrounded on all sides by old apricot and peach trees, and the lawn was carpeted with carnations. Raspberries and boysenberries grew along the wall, providing a sweet nesting place for the night singing mockingbirds. And you say your favorite haven was in the garden? Uh, it was the playhouse. A pair of ancient guava tweet trees that may form this huge light piercing area with branches that swept the ground. And you say the pathway that led from your grandmother's house to yours was flanked with hollyhocks as tallest trees and these giant bumblebees and, and you would curl up in the sycamore branches to read or watch for figures in the clouds. And you say your grandmother started it all. And I think beyond the dreaming, Sharon of like reading root shoots, buckets and boots and being like, I cannot live one more summer without doing this. Beyond that, it's this message that you still have more time.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

You do. I. I know. I just always feel like people are rushing, rushing, rushing. And that's why grandparents are so wonderful, because they can take a little more time. But we, even if we take five minutes a day, write down one little miracle that you see and learn about it. You know, whether it's the opening poppy or watching swallowtail caterpillar grow through its various instars and, and then girdle itself to a fennel and in a chrysalis, you know, all of these little things and every little thing that you watch or you look at with your loop or your magnifying glass, that can turn into a book for a child that turns into volumes and volumes of joy and, and just not just pleasure, but all of these mysteries that are opened up when you go out in the garden and you learn from Mother Nature firsthand. You just look. We're so blessed to have sight, but just to look and feel and smell and you know, it. Touch things. Take a child out and do that. It's never too late. It is never too late. And my son with his children. And it is so gratifying to me. And it's so gratifying. I mean, yesterday when Jeff read me the letter from the lady lady in Tasmania, I thought that little book that's so amazing to me that Ruth Shoots is being read in Tasmania and Sunflower houses, you know, so it's just fabulous. It's all about staying in touch.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yeah. And you bring up this generational impact that you have and here your grandmother now, so she really affected then her, your great grandchild and great great grandchildren that would be your son's kids.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

It is like throwing a giant rock into a still pond. You just get those ripples, ripples, ripples all the way out to the cattails. And you know, it doesn't stop. I think it's, it just goes on and on and on. And so when I think about, okay, I'm old now, but if one child now understands great blue herons or spiders or the soil, then I did my work. I did my work.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yeah. And on it goes. And that's for me, you know, that, that motivation and inspiration that I would be the grandmother that starts it all. And, and I am actually I'm not because it's my mom. Like I can't be the one that like takes claim because actually my, my parents have got beautiful gardens and my in laws, they're actually, they're actually all really good at all that stuff. So it's really not me. But you know, I'm part of this line. Think that if you have been on the fence or you just, you feel overwhelmed by it. Your books give you the how to and, and the, and the start of like these are the easy ones. Start with these. These are easy and they're enchanting and they're going to grasp your kids attention. Start with these. And also you have a lot of time. Like maybe it's going to be when you're the grandma. You might have 10 years, 15 years, 20 years to learn it all before you're in that spot of, of you know, little Sharon running through the hollyhocks and, and finding joy.

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[Sharon Lovejoy]

When you said little things, you know, I, I just. You do have time. You do have time. Don't use it as, as an excuse. I don't have time to do it. We're all, I think you with all your children and all your side things that are going on, you must really be out of time. But five minutes, do you have five minutes? Does anyone have five minutes? And you know, it's, it's just so gratifying. We make one discovery a day and it's just amazing. So it's like all these miracles and all these mysteries and they're all waiting for you. And you said about starting small. You can grow garbage gardens in your kitchen during the winter. I did radishes and carrots and all these things that kids learn about the life force that's in all of these things. And I think that's in. That was called Toad Cottages. They call it Camp Granny now. But a lot of projects where you can grow garden all year round. And you know, you talked about the egg carton. It's so neat to have kids see the egg, the things sprout in the egg carton just so that they feel like they have a little command over what's going on. And that's why I like being small. I like doing containers, I like doing. I like doing big, too. But small is the way to get in the door, you know, keep it close and keep it small.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yeah, yeah. So I have the book when it was called Toad Cottages and Shooting Stars. And you say to my un. The dedication is to my unforgettable grannies, Augustine Feller Clark and Abigail Baker Lovejoy. All that is good in me sprang from them.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

That's true.

[Jenny Yarridge]

It gives you something to aspire to. And like I said, just that reminder, it's not too late. You haven't started too late. You know, just do it. You have to do it. Get out there and plant the things. And so this one is, this one at the top says a grandma's bag of tricks. But really it's for anyone. Like if you are a mom and you need a bag of tricks, or if you're not a mom and you're a single person and you need a bag of tricks because you want a little bit more joy in, in your life, these books are going to get you there.

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[Jenny Yarridge]

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[Jenny Yarridge]

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[Jenny Yarridge]

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[Jenny Yarridge]

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[Jenny Yarridge]

That'S W-O-O-M.com you have this question that you ask people. And I think this is an interesting question, Sharon, because at the end of my podcast episodes, I ask people what's a favorite memory from their childhood that was outdoors? And there's been all sorts of different answers. Most of the time they're really simple things. But you ask people, can you remember any garden games or you things you learned about plants and flowers when you were a child? Have you noticed any changes in those types of answers as the generations have changed because kids are spending less time outside?

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Absolutely. Absolutely. I wrote Sunflower Houses at the beginning of the 80s, and I did interview tons of people for that because I had a business. And I would get all these visitors coming through to, and they talked about all their hours in the garden and all their hours till mom would say, you know, Jackie, get home, get home, it's time for dinner. Or, you know, we had rules and you have to be home by dark. Although I loved going out in the dark, I loved the dark time. So now, well, I know how my sons, you know, the kids are watched and they don't play alone. They, sometimes they go down and play basketball alone and things like that. But mostly they're in the backyard, in their own backyard, and they don't interact as much as they did when I was a child, and they don't interact as much as they did when my grandmother was a child or my grandfather. And that's part of what I love about what you do. You know, you get people to think about that and to take their kids outside and just spend time outside. And it's critical. I mean, it's part of the fabric of who we are. We're humans, but we're also, you know, part of this earth. We're part of this biosphere. And we have to keep ourselves rooted in the, in the soil and in the beauty of what we can do, what we can grow, what we see. I mean, I think it, I, I always tell my husband that I think that people are better off when they go out and they play and they're walking outside or they're seeing things outside. It brings you down to this peaceful level. You know, I try not to go out into my garden and just see the weeds. Gosh. I try to go out and see the blossom that has that giant bumblebee doing the bumblebee rumba on it. You know, I try to look at all those things and I have to say that I. I have a very close family member who just had a horrible procedure and is probably given a second chance at life. And I want him to go out and I want him to get born every day. We have to be reborn every day. Have to be a child at heart every day. And I think it's the most healing thing and it's what we've gotten away from. We've gotten away from a child at heart. We've got kid. I watched Kids the other day and don't, please. I don't want people to start writing me nasty letters about this. But the kids were using credit cards and maybe that's a way to teach them responsibility. But I just thought they're charging all these things and they can go out in the garden and make things or they can go out in nature and do things, but here they are shopping and charging and I just, I constantly question that, you know, I do.

[Jenny Yarridge]

That's such a consumeristic view of life. And that actually is one of the things that you talk about a lot in all of your books are these toys that nature provides. And you had had someone that said we were poor and we didn't have a lot of store bought things. My favorite flower project was our summer playhouse. We didn't have a regular playhouse, but we planted one every year. So this is talking about the Sunflower House, you know, planting the playhouse and it's this live living thing. And, and so often you talk about the natural toys. You know, you make these little acorn boats and trumpet vine dolls and our walnut sailboats. Walnut sailboats and trumpet vine dolls. Can you talk about. It's just an interesting thing. Sharon. I didn't realize. I guess as dumb as it's going to sound, but like how much it draws you in and people ask a lot. They say, okay, well, we are not really going outside. How should we start? What should we do? And you know, if it's just like a, you know, I want to go tomorrow. It's like, well, go on a hike. You know, that'll get you outdoors and it'll get you on a path and you can look around and see what's going on. But for the long term, I think if you really wanted to entice your children outside, it's the garden. Because the garden provides all like this. Why this massive variety of things for kids to play with. And they are in abundance. You don't have to be worried that they're going to ruin it and another one's going to grow. So can you talk about some of your favorite nature toys?

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Well, I'm going to ask my husband to get the nature box from off our coffee table, and I'll share that with you. So I love acorns. I use acorns in a lot of projects. And one of the things I like doing with children and I hope I can show this to you. I like doing a seasonal nature box of things that we collect. And I don't know if you can see. Jenny.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yeah, it's a basket just filled with textures and colors. Oh, pine cones. It's beautiful.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Well, and it has mosses and lichens and rose hips. I love rose hips. I love teaching children how to use rose hips. I love tasting them. I love leaves. If you ever. Did you ever see the book leaf people came out? Yeah. So I love making people out of leaves. And the kids make cut. They make cutouts out of them and they press the leaves and make hats for the leaves. And those are really easy to do. They're better than paper dolls. They're leaf dolls. I. Well, I. Jeff, can testify to the fact that I can't go on a straight line walk because my rear end's always up in the air and I'm always picking up little things and looking. And that's what you want to do with the kids, is go out and just explore. Just look at things and try out like the trumpet flower dolls or hollyhock dolls or hollyhock lays or, you know, different seasons have different things. I'm not used to really deep winter like you have in Michigan, but the buds that you can see on bushes that are going to come out and burst forth love collecting those and letting the kids see those grow. And, you know, I. It's just like there's. There are limitless possibilities. And they're all free. They're all free and heads and all those riotous things going on in your garden. They all have stories to share and they can all be used. Okay. Those echinaceas make great hedgehog toys. You know, there are all these things you have to just look. You have to just look and imagine and see them. Through a child's eyes and in toad Cottages. I have a couple of pages called I think Fairy Tea Party or Fairy Garden. And the kids, we. I worked at a. I worked at an arboretum in Michigan. And I can't remember then it was. What was it? Lila? Arboretum. And one of the neatest things in the world was I asked them to keep an area open that was just sand and soil. And they did and had some rocks and we had some pieces of wood. And the. It wasn't like a sandbox, but it was like a miniature fairy playground. And the kids spent so much time there just. Just watching them. And then I cannot remember the name of the books, but. Oh, darn it. The guy, the man who does sculptures and everything with rocks and with twigs and with the kids. They bought that book so that the children could look at them. And then the children started making all those things. So just wonderful, wonderful. So it's limitless and it's all there. And long as we're respectful, you know, we don't rip moss up out of the ground that's growing. We take things that have fallen down. We don't rip lichens off trees. We only. We harvest what nature's dropped to the ground.

[Jenny Yarridge]

And it is. It's limitless. And that's so different than wanting the next doll and the next thing and the. You know, and it doesn't capture your imagination in the same way. I wanted to read how you wrote it. And this is from.

[Sponsor/Advertiser]

You got to get.

[Jenny Yarridge]

You're gonna have to get a cop out out of print. But it got printed 10 times, so you're probably gonna be able to find a used copy. Yeah.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Printed about 15 times. It was in print over 30 years.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Wow. And this is similar. I mean, these books all have a similar theme to them. But you had written this one sentence in sunflower houses reprinted 15 times. If people don't, like, want to understand what that means, because I didn't know until I started becoming an author. It's like you have this book and they. And they print it X amount of thousands of copies.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

And.

[Jenny Yarridge]

And then they run out because they've sold them all. And then they reprinted again and they sold them all. And then they reprint again 15 times. You know, they sold it all. They sold it all. I mean, it just means so many books have gone out into the world. And you say, if you have a rough and tumble child, which I'm sure a lot of people listening have a rough and tumble child who is easily bored. Kids are very easily bored today. Because they're not getting outdoors and they're on screens. And screens, I think, exacerbate boredom.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Right.

[Jenny Yarridge]

If you have a rough and tumble child who is easily bored, tantalize him or her with a garden that could be the biggest, best, most unique one in town. And whatever you put out there, it is tantalizing. We have got little tomatoes this year, Sharon, that are those little.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

The little current tomatoes, Little Grape Tomatoes.

[Jenny Yarridge]

They're little. They're purple.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Oh, good.

[Jenny Yarridge]

They're purple. There's purple tomatoes. I'm tantalized.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

You have to think outside of that box. You know, there are so many things that are so different, like the moon and stars. Watermelon. I love the moon and stars. Watermelon. I love gourds. I love making little houses out of baby gourds after they're dry. Oh, there's just absolutely limitless and free again. Free, free, free. Once you get those seeds in the ground or you share seeds or you go to the. You know how they have those little free libraries, and now they have the little seed libraries. Free. Absolutely fabulous. And every seed is a miracle. And every seed. I just look at a watermelon seed and I think, how did that grow this big thing that I'm loving? How did that little black seed do that? You know, so everything, it's just. It. It's limitless. It is. I miss my garden. And we're going back to California in a week. We're leaving Maine and driving back, and I can't wait. I cannot wait. Bulbs. Oh, you can start planning and plan bulbs. You can do so much this time of year.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yes. Whenever you're listening to this episode, there's so much that you can do. It might be a time of dreaming, or it might be a time of getting your seeds together. Might be a time of harvesting.

[Sponsor/Advertiser]

Whatever time.

[Jenny Yarridge]

We did the moon and stars. Oh, you have a list in root shoots, buckets and boots of. I think it's the 20 easiest things to grow with children. And that's where I started. And it gave me all these successes. And we did the moon and stars. Watermelon. So I've never heard of that. That I didn't know that you could get small tomatoes that were purple, you know, and they're so delicious. You just. I have no idea the amount of variety of things that you could grow. Like a tiger. Tigger, maybe. Tigger melon. I mean, and I just. From your book, I just. It got us into it. And we grow these apple cucumbers now and these lemon cucumbers and the apple. Cucumber is the size of an apple, and it's round, but it tastes just like a cucumber. And you can eat it like an apple. I mean, this is.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

It is.

[Jenny Yarridge]

It's a miracle. But we grew corn this year, Sharon. Everything stems from roots, shoots, buckets, and boots for me. And then, you know, I. I held up my pile at the beginning. I, like, have. I pretty much. I think I have all the books. But we grew this corn this year, that is. And I can't remember what variety it is, but it's the one. It's multicolored and art. We just started pulling them down. And our youngest daughter talking about the watermelon seed, and you're like, how does this little thing, it's one inch or half an inch long, will grow a whole vine with these huge leaves and these melons and the. And then there's going to be, you know, 2,000 more seeds. But we pulled down the corn, it was just last week, and she. And. And you're unwrapping. It's like unwrapping a miracle. You know, you don't. You get to unwrap it. I mean, the garden has things you can unwrap. So she starts to unwrap this corn, and it is so gorgeous, the colors. There's purples and yellows and blues and turquoise. It's all these different colors. Starting from your book. This is why we do this now.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Now.

[Jenny Yarridge]

And she said, how did these colors get painted in here?

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Oh, painted in here. Oh, I love that. That's wonderful.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Oh, that's the miracle. That's the miracle. Like you're saying, where she knows we dropped one little seed in the ground and it grew this huge stock, and now she can make corn husk dolls. And now, you know, there's all sorts of things we can do with the stalk. And. But that realization that this is a miracle, from one seed came all these colors. And she mulled over it for a really long time. Like, come to think of it, how are there all these colors out here?

[Sharon Lovejoy]

You know, I want to meet her. You know, I. I hope you're taking pictures of all this. And Jeff reminded me of how neat it is now that my grandchildren send me pictures of things like bugs, you know, spiders, leaves, flowers. So we keep those memories in our brain with pictures, and they're really important, so I hope people do that. And then also, if you use a camera or if you use a ph, you can get so close to look into the heart of a flower. You can show children, you know, the, the secret nectar trails that bees follow to get inside the heart of a flower and all these things. But keep pictures because that's part of your history. And also I think it's really important to get the children's voices. We forget voices. And if you can do videos, it's, it's a wonderful thing. It's a great thing to share with the family. And you were talking about screen time, you know, taking, taking kids away from nature. But what, what I found is that when I first started writing professionally, they would want an article that was 2,000 words long. And then after screens came in, they wanted shorter articles and shorter articles and sidebars because kids eyes go to the side to see all these little pictures and things. So that was a further evidence of, you know, how children have changed. And also toys that were once designed for 10 to 12 year olds are now, I think they've shuffled them down to 6 to 8 year olds. So everything's shifting. Kids don't need to grow up that quickly. They need to be kids. They need to enjoy that. They need childhood. We all need childhood. And my dear friend Jane Taylor, who was a Michigan 4H fabulous woman and started the Michigan 4H Children's Garden, she told me I wrote my bird book. She said, I think every old folks place should have this so that people can see all the birds on the plants in the garden and they can see the birds feeding at the window. And you know, she got it, she got it that no matter your age, you need nature to fulfill your life. Just like you need your spiritual nature, you need your family, you need nature. Nature.

[Jenny Yarridge]

That's such a good point. Actually, now that you say that, that's the book I don't have, I don't have the bird book. I think it was unavailable the last time I looked. So I'm gonna have to look again and at least see if I can get a used copy. The bird book is the only one I don't have. And I remember that we talked about that before because I really do like going out and we've got these towering sunflowers. I mean, they've got to be 15ft tall. They're so tall. And that when we go out, then all the finches fly away because they've been up in there. I don't know, it's just absolutely gorgeous. But you know, it's interesting, Sharon with the kids especially, like I said, because our youngest has grown up more in it because I had started with her, she was like Two or three when I started, when I read root shoots, buckets and boots. And she will drag me out there. You know, she wants to see what's growing. And she's the one who just was so mesmerized by all the colors and they're beautiful, but she was so mesmerized. And we. And we stop and we talk about it. It so. Isn't that a beautiful thing, Sharon, how it comes full circle? Like, you can be a really busy mom. You got all these things going on. You can be a busy grandma. You got to get this done and that done. And. And the child says, I want to go see what's growing in the garden. And it allows you. It pushes you to stop.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Well, I think, you know too much of our lives. And I was a single mom for a long time, and my life with my son Noah was. Sometimes was paralympic. We weren't interacting. But what really mattered was when we did this interwoven time together. And that's what we remember. Going on a walk and finding birds nests and picking up acorns and all these things. And instead of us, us parents, we're all busy grandparents, parents. But don't just run along on a parallel line. Do this intertwining, this interweaving, and spend time. I think, you know, we need to ask questions. We need to look kids in the eyes and. And respect their answers and their question, not just say, later, later, later. You know, we need to take time with them. I. My time with my grandchildren. Holy smokes. What we did in the kitchen and outside. And I hope and pray that as they get older, that they come back to it, just like my son has the garden, you know, that's what I hope. That with those kids was the. Probably one of the best times of my life. I. I enjoyed it. It was hard going to be the chauffeur and picking up and dropping off and making sure appointments and braces and, you know, but I wouldn't trade one second of that for anything. That was the greatest, greatest experience. Being a parent, being a grandparent, being a. An adopted parent or auntie. Fabulous. Fabulous.

[Jenny Yarridge]

And it's like the garden just enhances it all.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Exactly.

[Jenny Yarridge]

It enhances it and it allows for this sort of full circle of. In. Of your child in some ways, or your grandchild leading the way with their curiosity and enthusiasm and. And you have to stop what you're doing. You have to put the dishes down, you have to turn the vacuum off or whatever the thing you're doing, and you follow them out There. And then you're so glad you did. I. There is never a time when I. When I think, oh, I wish I would have stayed inside and finished that work. You know, you get out in that garden, and you just get drunk, drawn in. And so it is just the gift of my life that I have read your books and. And it took me down this path. I love how you talk about the poetry. So you read poetry in your books, and you have these poems that are coming from the 1800s, and it just reminds you, like, this is historically normal. This is what people have done, and this is how they've connected as families and how they've connected as communities. You had this one poem that says. Says, this is from the 1800s in a children's garden book. We were sitting down in the grass. Deep in it. It was taller than we. The daisies were there close beside us in a circle. They stood on a mound. And it just keeps going. And you think this connects us to humanity? The screens are new. They're so new, you know, and to be reminded that in the 1800s that this is what the kids were doing, sitting down in the tall grasses and looking around at the daisies and how special they are.

[Sponsor/Advertiser]

Are.

[Jenny Yarridge]

So can we talk about what we should plant so we can start to plan a couple things that we should plant that attract children specifically? So I have found some things have been hard for me, like, we've tried to plant broccoli. It's never worked. You know, we've tried. And I. You know, I have a lot of things, actually, that have never worked, but some things have always worked, and they are so enchanting. So can you just give us a couple ideas of some perennials?

[Sharon Lovejoy]

I want to know what things for you have always worked.

[Jenny Yarridge]

I. I'm sure zinnias. The zinnias have always worked. It's the flowers, actually. The flowers and the vining. Okay, here's what's always worked. The zinnias have always worked. And I didn't realize when I planted. I think I told you this, Sharon. I planted the. We planted the seed, and I thought I would get one flower. That's what I thought. One seed, one flower. And I was like, this thing is shooting off every way, you know, like, getting thousands of flowers and all these colors, and. And now I know I. My favorite is called. Well, it's called Benary's Giant. I don't even know how you pronounce it. And then there's this one called County Fair. Oh, I love County Fair. It's from high mowing organic seeds. I don't know. I don't know like, if people own the names of them or. But then there's like Thumbelina and, and Cinderella and the amount of variety, Sharon. I mean, who knew you can get 15, 20, 30 kinds of these, these zinnias.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Probably it, you know, I, I find that the flowers, like the, the sunflowers and the zinnias and the love in a mist and plain old calendulas, which are edible, you know, true calendulas, not, not the fancy marigolds. And I love fruits. Kids love to grow fruits. They love strawberries. They love, love ground cherries. Ground cherries are so wonderful to grow in in a hanging basket and the kids can run underneath them and pick them. I love them. They're, you know, holy smokes. There's just a million different things that are good to grow. And that's why I listed things in the beginning of Roost, the buckets and boots. I tried to think of what 20 things would be the e. Not necessarily the easiest, but, but more, more bang for your buck. You know, more excitement, more color, more life. And of course, the senas were big because they are. Because kids just love them and they're always full of skippers and butterflies and bumblebees and honeybees. I, I have to go back to my top 20 and just say that all of those are tested and loved and, and I, but I also think that growing little tomatoes and growing them in a pot or a half a barrel or something close to where kids are running in and out of a kitchen, you know, accessibility is really important, so, so they can pick things and learn. Ooh, that green one didn't taste good. You know, learn how to tell when it's ripe. I love fruit trees. That's a long term job right there. The fruit trees I planted. Jeff and I planted 74 fruit trees on our little city lot. The kids love them. We named them for different grandchildren. And they say, how's my, how's my apple tree doing, Alma? How's, you know, how's my pink lady apple doing? Or how's my nectarine? So I think fruit trees are critically important and I love bulbs. And bulbs are so neat for kids. And, you know, you might have to, I think in hollyhock days I show this where you cut a bulb in half and you can see the entire. You're going to give up the bulb when you do that. But to show kids that the whole thing is tucked inside that bulb all the Food it needs, everything is right in there. And it will all grow and become a plant and have a flower and attract bees. So now's a good time for you. I don't know when you will be showing, you know, airing this, but autumn is a terrific time to. To plant bulbs. Bulbs. And I'm planning to plant a lot and I'm getting a lot of native bulbs because Camassia and Dichelostemma and different ones that are kind of rare and a lot of native wildflower seeds. And you've got great wildflowers all around the country. Ladybird Johnson Wildflower center has all kinds of lists of different wildflowers that you can plant. And you know, it's important. And then Xerxes Society, Xerces Society has plants that will attract all sorts of butterflies, moths and bees. Bumblebees, which don't. They don't really sting. So if a child has an allergy to stings, you know, a bumblebee is not going to be a problem. But I hope. I mean, I grabbed them and held them and they've never done anything to me, so. So check out the Xerces Society. Check out Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower center for your specific state that you're in. And then the top 20 plants are still my favorites for kids. Grow the different oddball things. Grow the purple tomatoes and the, the creme tomatoes and the current tomatoes, and I love those. And grow popcorn. You know, it's fun to do strawberry popcorn. Love strawberry popcorn. I don't know if you do that, Jenny, but it's so wonderful when you pop it. It just snowy white with that little bit of red. Oh, the divine.

[Jenny Yarridge]

It's such a reminder. And I think because it's. You don't just have one book. If there was just a root, shoots, buckets and boots, it. It would seem like a little bit more finite. But because there's so many books, you're. You just really get the. You get it. This is endless. There's an endless amount of joy. There's an endless amount of things to learn out there in hollyhock days. I found it. I found where you have the bulb.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Oh, yeah. Good. Thank you.

[Jenny Yarridge]

It says each seed is a promise. Some people call seeds treasure boxes because they hold the treasure of life, food, health and beauty. We see seeds every day without really seeing them at all. A roll covered in poppy seeds, a giant coconut. The false seeds on the outside of a strawberry. So just like all of these things that you talked about earlier, take a magnifying glass, look at the seeds, look at them more closely. And it is incredible how the different seeds are so different from each other. And then you have this picture where you had cut open the bulb. If you had X ray vision and could see the inside of a bulb, this is what it would look like. So, I mean, it is just, it, it's just such a reminder of how remarkable the world is. And we miss it when we're sitting inside on screens. We miss all of this. I like the sunflowers because they sprout quick and they sprout tall and, and they, you know, they tend to do really well. And there's so many different varieties. We did the, the teddy bear type one, but a real tall one this year you can get the ones that are, they're reddish. I mean, they're just absolutely gorgeous. The mammoth ones.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Oh, the autumn colors. The ones that are autumn colors. I do always get the sunflowers that do produce pollen. A lot of people don't like bouquets with those. But what's the point of growing a sunflower if you don't have pollen? Pollen for the bees? I don't get it, you know, so I, I don't look. When I go through the seed racks at our local hardware stores, in our, in our nurseries, I always look for ones that don't say, you know, we do not, you know, these do not produce pollen. I think, what's the point, you know?

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yeah, you look up that, you know, we'll go out there, we'll look up, right? It's way up. It's hanging above us. You know, it's, it's this big, you know, it's bigger than a dinner plate and there's all these bees crawling all over it. And they're like, there's so much life here. And I always wonder where would these bees be if I wouldn't have planted, you know, this sunflower here? So just incredible ideas.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Jenny, Jeff and I took a lepidoptera class and actually took our boys to a lepidoptera class and, and stayed in a camp, Audubon camp, but this was a class in Maine and we went out at night and that's where I got the moth broth. We went out at night and when we looked at the face of a sunflower, there were gazillions of moths, beautiful moths feeding at all those nectaries. So nighttime is really important. And I've really been working on a night night book idea. So I want people to be able to go out and just see what's going on 24 hours a day. It's, it's not sleeping at night. Believe me, Caterpillars are more active at night because they're not as liable to have pred. Predators after them. You know, just go out with a flashlight and I, Jeff and I took a class last year at Firefly class in North Carolina. And you had to cover your, your, Your light with a red piece of acetate that we, that we taped on so that it wouldn't. Our eyes wouldn't, you know, you, you're affected by the light. We wanted to be able to see, so. And we also didn't want to disturb the fireflies or the, the spiders or anything else we were watching. So, you know, go out and look at night and if you still have sunflowers blooming, go look at them. Jenny. If they're setting seed, they won't have that kind of activity. But when they're still dripping with all kinds of good things, they're incredible to watch.

[Jenny Yarridge]

I never even considered that. What an amazing idea. And how cool, Sharon, that you're still taking classes. That just shows. This is endless. This is an endless habit hobby that you can enjoy your whole life and learn and learn. You talk about the Cinderella pumpkin. It can get almost 500 pounds or tomatoes. You know, the largest tomato is 6 pounds. And just the teepees and the arches and there's carrots that can be really long. We grew some long thing. It's green. It's probably four feet. I don't even know what it is. It says a green tube.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

I don't know.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Our youngest took it over to Grandma's because she was like, this is really cool. And I don't remember what we planted and, you know, because everything kind of went every which way. The other thing that has always grown for us in, in abundance are the birdhouse gourds.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Yes, I love those. Those are fabulous. And you need space for those. But you know, the. And if you grow the little ones. One of my best gifts I ever received from a reader was a little, little birdhouse gourd. And they'd use some kind of a little saw to cut out windows and a door. And then they burned in some stuff in the top. It was a little fairy house. And then last year when we were on the firefly trip, they had taken birdhouse gourds and cut out stars and things. And they had lights in them and they were the most beautiful lamps. And we've made jewelry boxes out of them. All sorts of things. We. But wow. I have to tell you That a birdhouse gourd that's hardened and that has the shapes cut out. Wow, it's fabulous.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Oh, how enchanting. And those grow every single time we've planted them so easy. So our easiest things have been the zinnias. Those grow. I really like the Mexican sunflowers. You talk about the woolly lamb's ear and those Mexican sunflowers. The stalks are so soft. My, my parents grew for the first time this year because I gave them a couple seed starts that I had started and they'd never grown them. And they can come in red and yellow, these different colors. What about the woolly? So talking about the soft, you know, all these different textures, the woolly lamb's ear. And you talk about how people used to use those as band aids.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

They used them as they were. It was called woolly wound wart in the probably the 14 and 1500s because it was used for, for a band aid. And then I had a woman from, I think it was Holland who said that when the weather is below freezing, you know, she put that they put a little lamb's ear on their nose and put their glasses on your nose so that their glasses don't stick to their nose. That's pretty neat. And it's a, it's a stackies and it gets these tall wonderful pink blossoms. And it is such a bee magnet. I don't know if you noticed that when you grew yours. And then I've got it growing everywhere at my house. It's just kind of self seeded. It loves to, to insinuate its way into pathways. So it's growing under nectarine tree and growing in the pathway and growing in the back garden area where it's not supposed to grow. But it's a good thing to have in the garden. And children love woolly lambs here. And they, they just, you know, they'll. I, I had a class of kids that had certain problems and one of the things I did was each kid got a woolly lamb's ear. This was at Heartseas, at my business. And to see them walking around and talking to the lambs ear and rubbing it on their face, it was really, it was wonderful. So there's a winner, Winner, winner, chicken winner.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yes. And that's one of the ones you talk about. And they can pick it off, they could put them as a bookmark, they can mail it that you have so many ideas. I was like, how does she have this idea and that idea. There was this idea where when you're growing, let's say, I guess like a zucchini or any of these pumpkins you can carve in them, you can carve someone's name in them and watch it as it grows. But one of the ideas that's so cool is to take that. I guess it would be a zucchini, right? And like when it's still small, you put it inside of a glass bottle, right? And then it grows and everyone's like, wait a minute.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Yeah. No. And people have done that in, in Britain in greenhouses. They. They've forced things into bottles and into strange closures and things. But for us, it was fish in a bottle and we scratched a little fish on the side of the zucchini, stuck it in and it filled up the bottle and there was a fish in a bottle.

[Jenny Yarridge]

It's so fun. It's so fun. It's so many ideas. I mean, you can really consider planting little toys for your kids because you talk about the dollar plan plant and that people use that for play money and play dishes and jewelry and it's easy to grow. You talk about the bleeding heart that's great for flower pressing or the obedient plant, which is called false dragon head. And they can twist that around into all these different shapes or even just the snapdragon. And you have the idea of using that like a little paper clip or earrings.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

They snap right onto your ears. That's what children do in the garden. They'll put the snapdragons on their ears. And when I was a kid did the snapdragon was a miniature mailbox. She did a little teeny note and flipped open the, you know, got the snapdragon to open and put a little note in there for the fairies. So snapdragons are one of my favorites. I love them too.

[Jenny Yarridge]

It's like you can just plant. It's your. You're planting toys is what you're doing. You're planting nature's toys for your kids. You say lemon verbena. You always talk about like they can have a personality like the pansies or you're looking for, for the touch. Are they soft like the woolly lambs ear or those Mexican sunflowers, you know, or does it have a smell or does it have a taste like the nasturtiums peppery and. And then you talk about this lemon verbena and you say, you know, they're going to put in their pocket.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

They did. Oh, children en masse. They love lemon verbena. It is so potent. I. I say lemon verbena and dittany of Creed are my two favorite herbs. And lemon verbena. I have, have a pair of lemon veras who I named Heathcliff and Catherine after Wuthering Heights. And they have been in a pot for 45 years. And they're intertwined and they're not big because I keep them cut back. But they have been traveling with me for 40, more than 45 years because it was before Jeff, so probably 50 years. So you know you can grow lemon verbena in Michigan too do. But you'd have to bring it in. But you will be so happy when it drops its leaves and you have all those leaves to put in tea. Fabulous lemon flavor. Fabulous.

[Jenny Yarridge]

You'll love is idea after idea. And I think part of the point is that we are passing on stories to tell. And you say, you know, in the 80s you were running ads asking people to share stories about childhood experiences in the garden with flowers. And you just wonder like, are those stories gonna end? And the books inspire you to not let those stories end because you just think, I want this in my life. And here's another idea I can try and I, you know, I, I interview a lot of authors and I'll read a book of theirs. You know, maybe they have another one that comes out or. But there are very few where I, I read the book and then I go and get every single other one. And that's what I did with yours. I got Root Shoots, buckets and boots from my midwife. She had a little store and she sold your book there. That was the turning point for me. And then, oh, you know, over time I've gotten all of them, including I, I love this. You have this middle grades novel called Running out of Night. It was a page turner. I read it on a trip and I like couldn't stop reading it. So actually if you're looking for a really good middle grades novel, I love Running out of Night and I love that you have all these different genres. So just book after book. We're heading into the holidays.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

Oh yeah.

[Jenny Yarridge]

And you know, obviously it's, it's big time for consumers. It's also a time when you often are taking hostess gifts and I cannot recommend more highly Root shoots, Buckets and Boots as a hostess gift or as a gift for someone's family for Christmas. Any of these books would be great. Get Camp Granny. Get it for the grannies in your life. Any of these books Running out of Night. If you've got the, got some late elementary middle school age kids, it's a fantastic book. Have these be the gifts because these are the gifts that are going to make the ripples for generations to come. Because they're so, they're enchanting and they just, they draw you in. It's like they suck you in. I don't even know what the word is. There's something about it that, that makes you think, I, this is how I want my life to be. I want my life to be like Grandma Lovejoy, where I've got these hollyhocks that are as tall as trees and, you know, here comes the kids running through them. You say, I know now that the gift my grandmother Lovejoy gave me is an ancient one that runs like a tenacious woodbine through the childhoods of the hundreds of gardeners who have contributed to my book. And now you've like, it's thousands people are calling from Tasmania. I mean, your grandma could have never known. Never known. And that's what we can hope for.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

She was a, a pretty fabulous lady, but what was really important to her was education and children and so, yes, she would be, she'd be thrilled. She would be thrilled.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Yeah, she sure would be. And those, it's just, it's really parallel to the seed. You know, you plant these seeds in your children's life and your grandchildren's life of loving nature and, and you never know how far they're going to sprawl out the vines, you know, what an incredible thing. Like, it's just a mirror, right, of that small seed and what can grow from it. And so if you raise kids that love nature, you just don't know what's going to grow from it to their grandchildren and beyond. So, Sharon, what an honor. Thank you so much for coming on for a third time. This will be coming out in November heading into those holiday seasons, so really consider. Oh, you could give seeds for gifts and, and things that draw people outside.

[Sharon Lovejoy]

In bulbs and herbs. Herbs are so wonderful. And thank you, Jenny, for all you do for children. I really appreciate it, it, I really appreciate it.

[Jenny Yarridge]

Thank you for being here.

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[Jenny Yarridge]

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[Jenny Yarridge]

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