A Little Girl, a Cat and a Frog-A Childhood Backyard Story
- Tammy Johnson
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
Written and edited by Tammy 30th Aug 2026
A Little Girl, a Cat and a Frog-A Childhood Backyard Story
A sweet little childhood backyard story that I can’t resist sharing because there’s a lesson from the garden in it for us all.
The beginning of my week saw me put on my 'Nanny hat' to go watch my little three-year-old granddaughter Ivy. As the weather was so nice I took her outside for some sunshine and to help me do some weeding.
Now, “helping Nan weed” when you’re three is perhaps a fairly loose description of what was actually going on. There was plenty of investigating, chatting, digging and generally enjoying discovering the gardens' hidden treasures.
And then she found a frog.
A real, live little frog tucked away in the garden — which, as you would imagine, was suddenly far more interesting than pulling weeds.
Unfortunately, Ivy wasn’t the only one who thought so.
Her cat Minnie who'd joined us, had spotted it too.
What followed was a rather determined rescue mission involving one frightened frog, one very interested cat and one incredibly brave three-year-old trying her hardest to catch it before the cat did.
Nan needn’t have worried.
“It’s okay, Nan. I’ve got my gardening gloves on!”
Of course. What was I thinking? 😂
The poor little frog put up one heck of a battle. It jumped, wriggled and did everything in its power to escape the toddler and the cat, but eventually the toddler won.
Safely captured, Ivy was very pleased with herself — and equally excited at the prospect of keeping her new little friend in a plastic container.
Cue our next garden lesson.
I then had to explain that although she might really want to keep him, the kindest thing we could do was let him go. Frogs belong outside, where they can hide, find food and live their little froggy lives. We could enjoy finding him, we could make sure he was safe from the cat, but he wasn't ours to keep.
With a quivering bottom lip, she took it onboard like a trouper.
Together we found a patch of long grass where he had somewhere to disappear, away from the cat and hopefully out of sight of the birds, and Ivy opened her hands and let him go.
Standing there watching her, tears of pride in my eyes, my heart just melted.
Because somewhere amongst the weeds, muddy gardening gloves, a determined toddler, an unimpressed frog and a cat who'd just lost its afternoon entertainment, something rather lovely had happened.
Ivy was learning about the natural world around her.
Not from a book. Not from a screen. Not because anyone had sat her down and decided it was time for a lesson.
She was learning simply because she was in it.
She knows there are creatures living amongst the soil and plants because she gets her little hands in there. She's learning that gardens aren't just made up of flowers and pretty things. They're tiny living worlds, full of creatures (like roley-poley bugs AKA slaters) going about lives of their own. She's learning to be curious about them, to care about them — (which sometimes involves Tupperware containers) and perhaps most importantly, that sometimes caring for something means leaving it exactly where it belongs.
And I couldn't help thinking…
Perhaps some of life's greatest lessons really do come in unexpected little moments in the garden.
Sometimes they arrive wearing gardening gloves.
And sometimes, apparently, they hop. 💚🐸
If you love stories from the garden… 💚
If this little story made you smile, come join me in The Backyard — a slow, down-to-earth little corner of my website where we talk gardens, seasons, wildlife and all the wonderful things happening just beyond the back door. It's full of handy, downloadable comprehensive user guides and tutorials for all things back to basics and beginner gardeners.
🌸 Spring into The Backyard! Join this September and use code SPRINGM20 to enjoy 20% off your membership — more gardening know-how, inspiration and backyard chatter for a little less!
Don't forget to check out my debut book while you're here, Barefoot In The Backyard-Where It All Begins. It would make for a beautiful Christmas gift for any garden lovers in the family.
Inside you'll find...
My 26 page guide to becoming a 'Plant Doctor'. Learn to identify and deal with all the common pests, diseases and disorders.
A 20 page detailed look at what hydrophobic soil is, how to fix it and prevent it ever happening again.
My bumper guide on all things soil. Learn how to identify your soil type with simple little experiments you can do right there at home. Understanding your soil type, how to care for it and what will like growing in it can save a lot of money and heartache down the track.
A lovely little 16 page guide to water saving practices and plant recommendations for a drying climate.
I wrote Barefoot in the Backyard: Where It All Begins because I genuinely believe that once you understand what’s happening beneath your feet, the way you garden begins to change.
So many of the problems we battle above the ground — plants that struggle, water that seems to disappear, pests and disease, gardens that need constant feeding and fixing — often have their beginnings below it. And soil doesn’t need to be complicated or wrapped up in
scientific language to understand it. Sometimes we just need someone to explain what’s actually going on down there, in a way that makes sense.
Across 196 beautifully illustrated pages, I’ll help you get to know your own patch of earth and understand how soil, compost, mulch, water, plant nutrition and all those wonderful little living things beneath our feet work together to grow a healthier, happier garden.
But this isn't a textbook.
It’s filled with fun little experiments you can try for yourself, practical garden recipes, beautiful illustrations, and warm stories from my own garden and from growing up with dirt under my fingernails. I want you to learn as you read, but I also want you to smile, reminisce, get curious, wander outside to investigate something — and perhaps begin looking at your own backyard a little differently.
Whether you're planting your very first garden or you've been gardening for decades, this is a book to keep close, scribble notes in, come back to, and hopefully treasure for years to come.
And Where It All Begins really is just that — the beginning.
There are more Barefoot in the Backyard books to come, taking us beyond the soil and further into creating, planting and enjoying the beautiful, living backyards we call our own💚
