Read by Michael Flamel

When I graduated with a broadcasting degree in 1970, life took an unexpected detour. An all-expenses-paid trip to the Vietnam War wasn’t exactly what I’d envisioned, but by 1972, I returned home, determined to find my way. Unfortunately, the broadcasting world wasn’t impressed by my resume of farming, storytelling, and serving as an Army medic.

“Experience is everything,” they said. Well, I had plenty, just not the kind they wanted. To make ends meet, I turned to what I knew best: growing food and weaving stories. My first “office” was a seat on the bus, where I began drafting plans for what I called the Old Gardening Party (OGP). My goal was simple: to keep the world safe for children, gardens, and storytelling.

Gardening on the Go

I wrote articles imagining the OGP as a movement: “As Director, I propose composting on the back of the bus for in-transit gardening. Greenhouse windows will extend the growing season!” My storytelling assemblies for schools became “sponsored” by foods from the garden. Dormant trumpet skills were repurposed for musical commercials, played on bits of discarded garden hose, much to the delight of children.

Soon, even Washington insiders noticed. Tom Brazaitis, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Washington bureau chief, asked if he could nominate me for president on the OGP ticket. “I’m not running,” I quipped, “but I might walk. It’s cheaper.”

Gardens and Laughter

My day job at Children’s Minnesota-Minneapolis Hospital took storytelling to new heights—literally. With the help of Dr. Karen Olness, a pioneering organic gardener, we created a rooftop container garden and a patient TV channel. An earthworm puppet anchored the broadcasts, interviewing teddy bears and dolls while delivering gardening tips. For children recovering from illness, the joy of gardening was a balm as powerful as medicine.

The G.I. Bill eventually funded my teaching certificate, leading to decades in schools where I started gardens, taught video production, and shared garden-inspired stories. Libraries brim with tales of food and wonder:

• “Pumpkins” by Mary Lyn Ray tells of a man who grew pumpkins to save a beloved field from development.
• June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner follows Holly Evans, whose science project results in turnips as tall as mountains and broccoli filling backyards.

But some of the best stories live in our hearts. A state legislator once shared how her grandfather, stationed in the South Pacific during World War II, convinced friends and family to send boxes of soil so soldiers could grow fresh vegetables on sandy beaches. It’s proof that gardens—and the stories they inspire—can bloom anywhere.

Growing Together

The OGP’s mission is simple: plant seeds of joy and curiosity in children’s hearts. Let them hear garden stories and then dig their hands into the soil to create their own. Whether it’s through fantastical tales of alien vegetables or the quiet satisfaction of watching a bean sprout, the magic of gardening always grows.

So, here’s to gardens, children, and the stories that connect us all. May we keep the world safe—and a little greener—for the next generation of storytellers and gardeners. ❖

About the Author: Larry Johnson weeds the Old Gardening Party (the OGP), to keep the world safe for children, gardening, and storytelling.  He has always had a garden, including one by the gasthaus near the base where he served as an Army medic in Germany.  He and Tyler the Earthworm had a garden on the roof of Children’s Minnesota-Minneapolis Hospital where they started the first participatory pediatric TV channel for patients.  Larry started school gardens and taught storytelling and video in the Minneapolis schools.  He is the author of Sixty-One, and has helped Oscar Wilde’s “Selfish Giant” share his garden with the children in many places around the world.