Growing Up on the Farm: Small Hand and Big Life Lessons in Harvesting and Eating Vegetables

Hello everyone! 🌸

Being a farmer’s daughter shaped my life in ways I only understood when I became a mother myself. The simple things I grew up with, the early mornings, the smell of fresh soil, the joy of harvesting vegetables are now the same experiences I’m passing on to my own daughter. As a mom, telling this story feels like going back in time, only now I’m seeing my childhood through her little eyes.

I still remember how my father used to wake up before the sun even rise, letting us to get vegetables so we can cook breakfast. Those words were part of my daily life. I would run outside with sleepy eyes and bare feet, excited to see what was ready for harvest. Sometimes it was okra, sometimes, string beans, cucumber, radish or sometimes sweet bananas. It was simple but it felt magical.

Now, as a mom, I see my daughter doing the same thing. I’m the one calling her name in the morning.

“Morning Belle, let’s get vegetables for breakfast. So, she comes running with the same excitement I once had. Her small hands reach for the okra, carefully piking each one like a little farmer. Okra is her favorites so we always make sure there’s plenty growing. She even helps me prepared it – washing the vegetables, handling me the knife, watching closely as I slice. It makes her felt important and it fills it heart with pride. 💛

There are moments when guilt hits me. As a busy work from home mom, there are days when I barely have time to breathe. But no matter how buys I am, I try not to forget the life lessons the farm gave me while growing up. I want Morning Belle to experience those too, because those lessons made me strong, independent, patient and grounded.

Sometimes, when our fruits like bananas, santol, mango or any seasonal fruits. Morning Belle and I go out together to pick some. She gets so excited, just like I did when I was her age. We laugh, we talk, and we enjoy the simplest gifts of nature. No gadgets. No distractions, just mama and daughter, enjoying a life that many have forgotten.

I grew up with a simple life. We didn’t have much, but we had fresh food, open space, and strong family bonds. I want my daughter to grew up with the same values, gratitude, hard work and contentment in the little things.

Of course, I also understand the world is changing. Technology is everywhere. So during weekends, I give her two hours of gadgets time. I don’t want her t be left behind when she starts school someday. But outside of that, the far, is her playground. The soil is her paper. The trees are her toys. And the world around her is her classroom.

Seeing Belle appreciate the simple life reminds me so much of myself.
Her happy face while picking vegetables…
Her small laugh while running on the farm...
Her excitement when she finds a new fruit…

All of it brings me back to my own childhood, a life rich not in money, but in experiences that shaped me into the woman, the wife and the mother I am today.

Thank you for reading my story, this is my owned picture edited in Canva. I’m grateful that I grew up as a farmer’s daughter. And I’m even more grateful that I get to raise my own child the same way. Connected to nature, grounded in simplicity and surrounded with love every single day. ❤️