SOLD: Beautiful Happyzine

There’s a quiet revolution going on in the suburban backyards of Australia.  Rather than sitting back and admiring our perfectly manicured “outside rooms”, gazing lovingly at our mondo grass, perfectly coiffed hedges of murraya, buxus or newly acquired rows of trendy agaves, we are choosing to head outside armed with buckets of kitchen scraps, water collected from baths & showers whilst we attempt to figure out where we should build a chicken coop, locate the veggie patch, compost heap and herb garden.

Suffering a slow death (and not for lack of water) is the passive, over-structured garden.  Instead we are rediscovering how much fun it is to actually interact

 with Mother Nature and the vital lessons she has to impart to us and our children about nourishing ourselves and our environment.  Despite our hectic lives, we are taking time to get down and dirty, and, somewhat surprisingly, we are finding that we love it.

So what’s behind this shift in the suburban landscape?  I’d suggest a few things.

Everyday we are bombarded with messages on climate change and the potential impact it will have on our lives.  No longer an obscure issue, we (collectively) now have a nascent understanding of some of the associated issues and their ability to directly affect what we do and how we do it.  It unsettles us.  Gone are the days when we could drop a coin into a bucket held by a man dressed in a koala suit and feel that we were doing our bit for the environment.  “Think global, act local” is once again foremost in our minds, so it comforts us on many levels to get out into our backyards, plant trees, attempt to grow our own veggies and provide a safe, happy and productive environment for our family.

The economy is doing nothing to provide peace of mind.  Food, fuel, water, medicines and shelter are all more expensive.  And with the global economy continuing to flat line, the ability to provide the basics for ourselves at reduced cost is very appealing and for many of us, more necessary.

Subconsciously, global terrorism may also be impacting on our lifestyle choices.  Terrorism is no longer a remote event, occurring in a far-off country.  There is an unspoken fear in many communities that some day soon, “something” may happen closer to home.  So our home becomes haven again; we are bunkering down, cocooning and trying to figure out what we should do to protect ourselves and maintain the peaceful lifestyle Australia affords us.

This unease reminds us of the staples of life –we hanker for a return to the “good life” of our childhoods, which was, on the whole, a time spent outside whiling away the day with lots of unstructured play (and not a nintendo in sight) and very little to worry about except what mum was preparing for dinner.  We long to provide this for our own children.

Or maybe it’s none of these.  Perhaps we are simply sick to death of gardens which offer nothing but a vacant green room, with little to engage or educate our children and no place for their beautiful imaginations to take hold.

Whatever the reason, I’m thrilled with our new-found involvement, and am now longing to hear, once again, the 3.00am call of the lovelorn rooster and hoping that I will soon find a beautiful Choko vine spilling over the back fence.

This article has also appeared in a recent edition of the online newspaper, The Punch at http://www.thepunch.com.au/

Check out more of Caro and Co’s blogs here.

Caro & Co is a blog dedicated to sharing information, tips and inspiration on how to engage children with nature, outdoors and healthy living. No preaching here we promise! Just suggestions on fun things to do with kids. You’ll find posts from friends, colleagues, children – all with one aim – to inspire you and the children in your life to get outside and have some fun!

Caro and Co also produce a series of books called Small Fry 

“In our desperate desire to get things right, as parents, we can so easily fall into the habit of over-structuring our children’s time. With the Small Fry series of books, we encourage parents,carers and in turn, children, to take some time to remember that the simple things can be the most valuable and create the most impact on the lives of our children. We also investigate nature v’s nintendo as well as kids and food, kids and their environment and the irrefutable value of kids and play.”

Check out the Small Fry series at HarperCollins.