The Most Important Investment of Your Life

"With children you can't just feed them and hope they turn out okay.  It's a constant investing.  You know, you invest it now, you give yourself now and then you reap the fruit later once they're adults.  Or you don't invest it now and you pay for it later.  Kinda like a plant.  You work the soil and put the right minerals down and make sure it's gonna grow just right or you can take a chance and throw it and end up with a crop failure and all that time was wasted. It's better to just invest it in the beginning.  Give it your all."  - Dawn Gotreaux

What a great quote!  Brian and Dawn Gotreaux are friends of ours that have a farm in Scott, Louisiana.  They are an interesting and inspiring couple.  You can visit their website HERE to learn more about them.  They have ten adopted children and grow nutrient dense food for their family and the community.  They have a CSA, they sell their products from their farm store as well as farmer's markets in Lafayette, they raise tilapia, chickens, turkey, eggs, and vegetables.

While they work very hard raising all sorts of crops, they would tell you that the most important thing they are raising is... THEIR KIDS!  I became aware that Victory Gardens Edible Feast videotaped an episode that featured the Gotreaux Family along with a farmer's cooperative in Mississippi, gardening tips from Paradigm Gardens and finally, Chef Donald Link demonstrates cooking a delicious looking dish.

The Gotreaux's all pitch in to get the work done around the farm after their home-schooling is done. Each has their own specific job to do, much as in previous generations when the size of families was much larger.  They needed the farm labor to feed the family.  There is a particularly poignant part of the video at the end at which they all sit around the supper table, hold hands, and thank God for His provision.

The entire video is 24 minutes long, but if you don't have that long, the portion that highlights Brian & Dawn Gotreaux and their family begins at the 7:35 minute mark and ends at the 13:03.  I guarantee you that it is an efficient use of five an a half minutes of your life.  In addition to discussing life on their family farm, they delve into the important principles of teamwork, learning, and having a sense of purpose. I thought it was fantastic and wanted to share with you.  Click on this link to view the video: Victory Garden's edibleFEAST Video

I hope you enjoy as much as I did.