Years ago, in the 1990’s, I created my first video entitled The Inner Garden. In those days, it took over 20 hours to render a small low resolution video in Adobe Premiere. Nevertheless, I wrote, filmed and edited a series of short stories about making a garden into a 20 minute film, including reminiscences about childhood garden experiences. This week, I thought of one of the scenes – Planting Onions: Sage Advice – when considering Father’s Day. My father passed away several years ago and my best memories of him are about sharing music and gardening. He was my first music teacher, teaching me the mysteries of notes on the piano and leading family music sessions of everything from brass choirs for church to jazzy jam sessions.
Even though the resolution is low, I hope you enjoy this little video of family garden memories from my younger self 🙂 Happy Father’s Day to all fathers everywhere – be sure to take time to share yourself with your children – it will build a lifetime of memories.
All music, text, and media ©2019 Lynn Emberg Purse, All Rights Reserved
composerinthegarden 
Thanks so much for sharing the video, Lynn. Out of all the people I’ve blogged with over the last six years, there’s only about 3 I’ve heard speak. With all of us scattered around the world, it makes it particularly interesting to hear these friends come to life.
I’m a very sentimental person and I’m also very interested in family history so your video was of great interest to me and I ditto previous comments about how good it is that you have that now your father has passed.
For me and my Dad, going to the beach and exploring the rock pools was a similar type of experience. We used to call it exploring and I felt like a real explorer, not some little kid on the beach seeing what’s already been seen before, but everything was special and magnificent.
Hope you have a great weekend and I’m really enjoying your blog.
Best wishes,
Rowena
Rowena, it sounds like you have many happy memories of exploring with your Dad – it’s a treasure, isn’t it? I’m so glad I made that video when he was still with us, it holds great memories for me too.
Perhaps there’s a gardener in us all waiting to get our hands into the soil and grow plants.
I think you are exactly right, Richard. You remind me of one of my favorite Gertrude Jekyll quotes – “The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.”
I’m glad you posted this, Lynn, it gave me further insight into who you are, and it IS a wonderful video. He gave you quite a gift! And you are keeping it moving along….
Thank you, Lynn – it does seem to be a family trait/tradition. Next post will be about the women in my family who inspired me to garden 🙂
Love the video. When you mentioned onions I thought of the Shrek video where he and donkey talk about onions. When life gets complicated, I think about onions and layers too:
Shrek: Ogres are like onions.
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes. No.
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry.
Shrek: No.
Donkey: Oh, you leave em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin’ little white hairs.
Shrek: No. Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers.
Donkey: Oh, you both have layers. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions.
Marvelous, Margy! I hadn’t remembered that scene until now – yes, there is something about onions 🙂
Thanks for sharing that scene, Margy. Hopefully we all have layers like the onion and the ogre.
I knew I liked onions for a reason. Very nice video. I’m impressed that your dad could get you up at 6 am, let alone out working in the garden.
Thanks, Jason. Those were more authoritarian times and I was only thirteen when we moved there 🙂 Also, the whole family did this, excited to be on our beautiful farm and growing things on a large scale. My first crop was popcorn!
Although late, I can see how this is perfect for Father’s Day. Well done … Loved the video, and as long as music and gardening is in your heart, your father is always with you.
That is a lovely thought, Frank – thank you.
Sweet memories, Lynn. It’s wonderful that your interest in gardening was sparked by your Dad. For me, it was my toddling after my grandfather where my interest in gardening was lit. It is a lifelong gift.
You must have so many memories of your own, Eliza, learning from your grandfather. Yes, indeed, it is a lifelong gift!
Sweet, Lynn. I guess we both get our love of gardening from our fathers. What a gift to pass on.
It is a lifelong gift, isn’t it Audrey? And as I’m finding out, it comes most often from relatives 🙂
Do use the phrase “to know your onions” to say about someone that they really know what they are talking about? It seems an appropriate phrase to go with your story.
Tootlepedal, I’m not familiar with that phrase but it makes perfect sense to me! Thank you for sharing it.
This is beautiful. It reminded me of planting potatoes: this is the first task we have performed in two new gardens we have started. The first garden was with my parents and my daughters when I had just made myself a single mum. It was so grounding and therapeutic to be planting potatoes, and then earthing them up! My daughters were wearing fairy dresses and wellies! Then when we moved here, my partner and I were moving in together and making a garden together, and bringing our families together. Again, we started with potatoes. I remember that even our rabbit joined in.
I try to encourage my now teenage daughters and step-daughters out into the garden, even for five minutes of deadheading or picking strawberries. I hope they will have memories, like you do.
Ali, what beautiful memories you have. I see the potato connection – putting something tangible into the ground and then removing the amazing results later. Gardening is such a life lesson, isn’t it? I love the image of your daughters wearing fairy dresses and wellies to plant the garden – perfect! I’m sure they will look back on this and carry it on as they grow older – that’s what happened to me 🙂
You must be really happy now to have made the video back then, while your father was still alive. Your memories will provide the higher resolution.
Oh Steve, you are SO right. I love your thought about the higher resolution – indeed 🙂
Utterly apropos for Father’s Day, Lynn. I hope you’ll bestow upon us the pleasure of viewing the remainder of the 20-minute film.
Oh yes, Kerry – I’m planning a series from this little film I did years ago 🙂 I find that my thinking about the garden hasn’t changed very much in the past 20+ years (although my hair has!)
Beautiful, Lynn! It was my father who fired my passion for gardening, too…Peace to you this Father’s Day, and joy in the continuing gardening adventure such lovely men sent us on, with wisdom and love.
Kitty, that is wonderful to know about you and your father! Peace to you as well – I hope your garden is blooming and thriving in beauty, my friend 🙂