Turn Work into Play

Our gardens are a playground, teaching us how to be innovative and flexible.

Ellen Ecker Ogden is the author of The New Heirloom Garden and other books featuring kitchen garden designs with recipes. Follow the year-round progress of my kitchen garden on Instagram.

Last fall, I took a chance and planted 100 ornamental alliums instead of the usual white tulips. Perfection!

Hello Friends,

Has this ever happened to you: It’s early morning, and you step into the garden to take care of one small task and find yourself several hours later, still there? (Possibly still in your pajamas.) Well, this happens to me – a lot. In fact, this morning it started with a weed-pulling session, then I moved to transplant seedlings, wrestled with the hose to water the young plants, staked up the sweet peas, trimmed spent blossoms…and suddenly it’s mid-morning. This is how I know it’s summer when the garden makes me lose track of time.

I value discipline and make lists of things to accomplish each day and every week. Since I work for myself, I can often make up any lost morning hours at the end of the day. Yet I no longer think of it as lost time. I am learning how to let go of my agenda and simply allow time for play. When I do this, I accomplish more in a single day than I would if I checked things off my list.

While we may say we are going to work in the garden, it is really about playing when we find ourselves going from task to task. Intimately connecting to our landscape, noticing the seasonal changes, understanding the order of things, and watching leaves grow are not on the to-do list, but are essential to full appreciation.

Years ago, a friend built a tree house near her garden for her kids to play outdoors, and I did the same. It was a way to encourage our children to be outside, and I loved listening and watching them as I busied myself with chores. Their delight turned my work into play, it was easy to be distracted by their giggles and imaginary stories.

“ And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” -Roald Dahl.

My friend’s garden with a treehouse built in the apple tree.

If you have watched kittens play, you may think they are learning to master aggression and to be fighters, yet in fact, they are learning how to follow the rules. How far can they go and what’s too far, how can they engage in play without hurting one another? Play teaches us how to get along with others. The more we play, the more adaptable we can become and innovative in how we think.

As we move into a new era of climate change, food scarcity, and random violence, the desire to be more self-sufficient deepens. Growing a food garden is more important than ever. Most people don’t grow their own food because they think it is too much work. Making it fun is the key to culitvating a life long passion in a gardener.

Gardening and sourdough bread baking have a lot in common – it starts off with the best intentions, yet not everyone will be successful or stick with it. I will continue to make lists of things to accomplish each day and look back on what I set out to do, versus what I actually did. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter because when I am lost in time, with a watering can and clippers, I feel like a kid again: I can play outside in my pajama’s and nobody will notice.

Leave a comment, and tell me how you like to play in your garden.

From my garden to yours,

Ellen Ecker Ogden

For paid subscribers, my favorite recipe for Potato Salad with Green Goddess Dressing is coming this weekend. Next week, look for my interview and video with Bridgette Butler, aka the Bird Diva.