Organic gardening is something I’ve always wanted to do, but never seemed to have the time or the space if we are getting technical. Living in New York, one is simply limited to a fire escape, or if you’re lucky, roof access.

But something that does remind me of home, especially during the holidays, is going home to California to my mom’s tomato and passion fruit plants. Reading From Seed to Skillet by Jimmy Williams and Susan Heeger, took me back to a time when I was ordered to run to the garden to fetch a few fresh tomatoes before dinner.

Even though my dream of owning my own organic garden might not be a reality now, just looking at the spectacular meals prepared in this gardening bible can curb the urge temporarily.

Williams learned about vegetable gardening from his grandmother, a South Carolina native from a traditional Gullah community whose members were descendants of Caribbean slaves.

His way of passing on his family’s love for gardening to his family history is in this inspiring step-by-step guide to designing and planting a backyard vegetable garden and growing one’s own food.

After this inspiring read, I might run up to Central Park and try to plant some carrots! (Carrots can be planted in the middle of fall, right?)

Being a city girl, I haven’t had much experience with farm life but after hearing about one country girl’s birthday extravaganza I can definitely understand the appeal.

With a “Cookies and Cows” themed party thrown on her farm full of live animals, Macy celebrated her second birthday. Her loving aunt, Hannah, planned the festivities. I especially liked the hand-made signs, cow cupcakes, and stick horses that adorned the table.

Hannah says:

When my two year old niece Macy, looked at me after seven hours of exhausting work in the 90 degree weather and said, “Macy’s happy!” I knew the over-the-top birthday party was worth it.

Being brought up on a farm, Macy has grown to love cows so I decided to put the two things Macy loves most together: cows and cookies. I created a black and white Milk & Cookies bar, complete with glass milk bottles, custom cookie labels, and a hand painted background.

We also had custom farm labels, which I designed and printed on all packaging including the invitations I had made and sent out to all the guests.

In addition to the milk and cookies, the children enjoyed cow cupcakes, while the adults couldn’t resist the barn birthday cake. All sat atop a red and white checked table cloth, which perfectly matched the birthday girl’s dress!

A chicken coop included live chicks and ducks, which lived inside my house for two days (which I don’t recommend, those things are cute but noisy!) and even a few live farm animals!

The children could not be more excited to play with them.

Each child was also given an egg carton to gather plastic eggs filled with goodies and a burlap bag, labeled Chicken Feed, which contained party mix.

The party ended with a hay ride, driven by Farmer Charlie, Macy’s daddy, through the fields, which included a stop to feed the cows.

All the children, most of whom had never been on a real farm, were ecstatic.

This could have been a very overwhelming event but it turned out amazingly rewarding when I saw my niece’s smiling face. When planning a child’s birthday party, remember that the day is to celebrate a very special person, so try not to get caught up in the stress of the details and set up. Pick a theme that the child enjoys and run with it!

The more activities and details for the children to explore and find along the way the better. All senses should be ignited as they touch, smell, taste, see and hear. In the end, watching them have fun will make it all worth it.