The journey we take through life may have many twists and turns. It is a joy to live long enough to be able to reflect on how many of the happenings in our lives have worked for our best. Even greater, perhaps, is the creative experience of having children, and sharing our best with them.

Daya Parson’s enthusiasm, zest for life and love for her children (a son and a daughter) touched me deeply. She encouraged the creation of this website (www.peggystclair.com), enjoys being a new gardener and especially gets a lot of pleasure in sharing gardening with her daughter, Lily. Often she would comment how much Lily loved to garden, and how great it was to share this hobby together.

I recently took a trip to their home just northeast of Cincinnati. I was greeted by gigantic sunflowers growing by the mailbox alongside the road, and others by the front door, propped up because of their sheer size and weight. “These are nothing compared to the ones we had last year”, Daya began. Their twenty- foot-beefy-stalk sunflowers were the talk of the neighborhood. The only way to get a good glimpse of the flowers was to view them from the second story window!  At the front door Daya and Lily are also growing cucumbers that vine all along the walkway.

We sat down together at the kitchen table where a large bowl of organic fruit was beautifully presented. I drank coffee from Lily’s favorite hot chocolate mug, depicting a Disney princess and learned how Lily got her name.

Daya tells me that she spent her childhood in southern California in a desert (the Moreno Valley)--- without a garden or a yard. Her parents had divorced when she was ten years old, and she chose to live with her dad. He owned a combination bicycle/ comics shop. She spent most of her time with her brothers, riding bikes and being a tomboy.

Daya has made a real kid/ adult friendly gardening environment around their home. Without knowing it, she has created an edible landscape design. Daya is growing her beloved Star Gazer lilies, each one surrounded by a circle of stones so that Lily can easily see when they are coming up, and when they will bloom. On the deck next to the railing is a shallow pot where they are nurturing morning glories. It’s great fun for them to watch the plant easily vining up through the rails. There are also herbs in pots; tomatoes, and peppers in the ground near the deck.

“No dresses, no pink, no Barbies,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. She had never been exposed to gardening, though she became the family’s official cook. Her grandmothers: one Mexican, and the other Italian, taught her how to make some of their own favorite dishes.

When she was seventeen, she inhaled the sumptuous scent of her first Star Gazer lily, and was simply overcome. “Those lilies were the best thing I ever smelled: they were a luxury”, she said, that dreamy look still in her dark eyes. Daya longed to have them someday in her own garden. After she could afford cut lilies in her home, her husband, Jason,  became allergic to them. Still Daya persisted, and her love for lilies--- in spite of her husband’s protest--- became her daughter’s name.

When the opportunity came to move to Ohio to purchase her husband’s parent’s home, Daya observed her mother-in-law’s love for gardening. Two year old Lily began to follow her “Nana” around in the garden. Lily got the bug for gardening.

When Jason’s mother moved away,  Daya realized it was her responsibility to maintain the gardens and help to cultivate Lily’s interest in gardening. What Daya discovered was that she loved the change of seasons in the Ohio Valley and adored the person Lily was becoming. “I got a real ‘girly- girl’ who likes dresses, and make-up and doing her nails: everything that is sparkly”, she said beaming at her daughter. “Lily has brought out a whole new side in me that I never knew as a child,” Daya added.

“Look at this”, she says enthusiastically. “All of these vegetable plants for four dollars, and what a bargain!”  What a return: food, enjoyment, education, cooking and precious time with Lily. “So many mothers can’t wait for school to begin again, but not me,” she added. Daya enjoys her children, and they appreciate being home with her too.

While Lily drew me a picture of their sunflowers, Daya shared a simple recipe that her children love. They call it “Salad Taco”.

Using a wrap, or a taco shell, Daya adds lettuce, provolone cheese, sliced tomato, fresh chopped oregano. She sprinkles on some salt and pepper, and a drizzle of oil oil. What a great way to enjoy their tomato harvest!

Lily, who is going to first grade this year, says she like to cook too. “Nature Soup” is something she makes with her friends in the fall. They gather leaves, acorns and flowers in wicker baskets. They put the natural contents in a bucket and add water. Daya chops up the sunflower heads and each child can take home their own sunflower seeds to feed the birds and squirrels. It’s pretend soup for the fairies, says Lily and one more way to keep the love of the natural world alive. -Peggy St. Clair