Now that the sun is starting to shine more often, gardeners are beginning to plan out their plots and start those seedlings. So, you run to the nearest nursery and buy 10 flats of veggie and flower seedlings with grandiose plans of family gardens that would rival all of the DuPont estates combined. Then reality sets in when you realize that you actually have to do something with those plants and soon! Relaaaaax. Gardening can seem intimidating if you’ve never done it before but it’s a great learning experience for you and your kids. It doesn’t have to look like something out of Better Homes & Gardens. It just has to fit your style, your availability to care for it, what works with your land and, most of all, it should be FUN! So, dig out that trowel and your gardening gloves and let’s get started!
The Age of Opportunity
Before choosing a gardening project for you and your kids it is important to consider their ages and abilities. A toddler is going to require a very different project and level of attention than a third grader. Kidsgardening.org breaks down the various age groups and defines their likely interest level and abilities. This will help you to determine what direction to take when you decide to invite your child into your garden.
Under Age 4: Do not expect to get anything done by your standards. In this age group, it’s all about exploring their environment and learning how they interact with it. Plan to dig holes, move rocks and pick dandelions while you explain the world to them. Don’t plan an afternoon of transplanting delicate seedlings into your raised bed with your toddler as your wingman. You’ll both end up frustrated and heading to the nursery for more seedlings to replace the not-so-lucky.
Ages 5-6: Your child may be able to start their own “garden”. Designate a small plot of land (1-2 sq. ft.) away from your garden to avoid collateral damage and let them have at it! Allow them to pick out a few plants or seed packets for their garden explaining as you go along how plants grow and need extra room to spread out. Show them how to transplant their chosen flowers or vegetable plants and teach them about proper watering so that, in their zeal, they don’t drown their new greenery. Remember, this is your child’s garden so, once you've given her the instructions, step back and allow her to manage it. If they decide to dig up their plants, let them. It will provide an opportunity to learn about the life cycle of plants and what you can and cannot do to them. They won’t learn if you micromanage their experience. However, you may need to help them out with a schedule for watering or weeding (or just do it yourself if you want their garden to survive). Children this age live in-the-moment and can use some assistance with long-term thinking.
Ages 7-8: Once kids learn to read they can begin to take on even more gardening tasks such as finding their own plants, reading up on their needs (do they need sunlight or shade? wet soil or a dryer climate?) and labeling the plants in their gardens. At this point, your kids are still exploring their creativity so don’t expect their garden to be pretty. It’s still an opportunity to learn. An excellent gardening resource designed specifically for children to navigate can be found at My First Garden.
Ages 9-10: As kids approach middle school you can allow them more latitude in their gardening. Now would be a good time to either give them a larger plot or allow them to take responsibility for a portion of the family garden. Work with them in the planning stages, using graph paper to design your gardens. It will give them some investment in your family project. They should be earning some of their own money by now. Give them the opportunity to order the plants they’d like or take them to a nursery to purchase their own. Explain their responsibilities in caring for their plants and help them research solutions to various problems they may encounter such as pest problems or blights. They might also like to begin thinking creatively about their garden by choosing or building trellises, borders or other structures in or around the gardens.
Planning Your Garden
Regardless of the space you have on your property, there is a garden for everyone! If you live in an apartment then you’ll want to research container gardens and window boxes. A small patch of land can house clustering plants and veggies with vines that like to climb upward. If your property has poor drainage then you will want to build raised beds to ensure that your plants don’t wallow in water. Try searching the internet for websites that help you plan a garden specific to your property.
Next you will want to have your soil tested. It is important to know the pH of your soil before you start gardening. This will enable you to enrich your soil appropriately to bring the pH up or down as needed for the plants that you want to grow. To test your soil you can simply order a soil test kit or contact the agricultural department or extension service office at your local university for more information about having your soil tested.
Now that you know your soil and property type it’s time to create a design. Make it as big, small, intricate or simple as you’d like. The options are endless! You can create a teepee using bamboo and sweet peas, training the vines to climb the bamboo to provide cover for secret meetings. A pizza garden is a fun lesson for kids. By planting tomatoes, garlic, basil and oregano, your children will see the origin of some of their favorite pizza ingredients. A butterfly and hummingbird garden is always a hit. Such plants as butterfly bushes, salvia and scabiosa attract butterflies from miles around. To find more engaging ideas for you and your kids, check out Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children
Once you’ve chosen your design you will want to ensure that it is properly placed to maximize the appropriate sunlight and soil wetness for the plants in your design. It is important to understand each plant’s need for sunlight and water and to plant them appropriately to ensure your garden’s fullest potential and to decrease disease and fungus attacks. A quick internet search on your chosen plants should provide you with all of the information you’ll need. It is also important to time the planting of your seedlings or seeds to their appropriate season. Waiting too long to plant certain veggies will mean that they wilt in the summer heat while planting items too early can risk their demise during a late frost.
Planting and Caring for Your Garden
When gardening with children, it is best to use organic gardening methods. In fact, I would say that it’s always best, for our kids, for us, for our pets and for our local environment, to use organic gardening methods. The long-term effects of toxic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and chemically-enhanced fertilizers are only now becoming apparent. If the label warns you to use gloves and goggles to apply it then why would you want to allow your children to play around it and ingest it in and on your fruits or vegetables? However, if you do decide to use pesticides, weed killers and chemical fertilizers, it is vital that you keep them well out of your children’s reach at all times and to ensure that your children wear protective clothing, gloves and footwear when they are around and in the garden. The same holds true if you employ a landscaper who utilizes these techniques.
Before planting, you will want to enrich your soil with high-quality compost. Composting is simple and an excellent way to reuse your plant-based waste while teaching your kids about the interconnectedness of life. For a basic overview of how to start a compost pile, check out this article at Kids Gardening or, if you are looking for a more in-depth description, Let it Rot!: The Gardener's Guide to Composting will give you everything you need to know about starting a healthy compost bin
When you are ready to plant, make sure that you have all of your tools, plants and any other necessary materials at hand. It is frustrating for you and your little helpers when the project is put on hold to run back to the hardware store for some forgotten item. If you are planting a rather large garden then it might be best to break up your project over several days. Be sure to care for those flats of seedlings, though. You don’t want them to dry out or become too pot-bound waiting for their big debut.
Any gardener knows that once the plants are in the ground they are fair game for pests, disease and weeds. It’s a good time to talk to your kids about the struggles of gardening and the need to regularly check on plants and identify and address problems quickly. Help them with any weeding that they might like to do in their plot to keep wanted plants from inadvertently becoming casualties of an overzealous weeder. If you choose to go organic, don’t despair should you find a blight or pest trying to subdue your harvest. A quick internet search will link you to tons of recipes for effective and sometimes even fun ways of eradicating unwelcome visitors in your garden. Last summer my husband and kids found aphids dining on our only rose bush, turning its leaves into veritable Swiss cheese. Hubby was as giddy as a kid at Disney World when his box of ladybugs arrived in the mail a week later and he released them on the rose bush to enjoy their aphid buffet. Rose bush saved without toxins!
Safety First
Kids are naturally curious. Some may be more cautious than others but they all want to know what happens if…? It is important to foster in them a healthy love for the environment and nature but to also firmly instill a respect for its potential dangers. A young child should never be left alone in a garden and, as stated above, all chemicals, even “all-natural” ones, should be kept out of the reach of children at all times. Adult gardening tools should also be kept out of children’s reach and should only be used by your kids with your close supervision. Research the plants you choose to adorn your property and ensure that they aren’t poisonous to your children or your pets. Some plants like poison ivy are obvious but others such as caladium, monkshood (especially the berries), oleander, poinsettia, rhododendron, bleeding heart leaves and roots, castor bean seeds, English ivy leaves and berries, foxglove leaves and seeds, hydrangea bulbs, leaves and branches, iris stems and rhizomes, larkspur, lily of the valley leaves and flowers, yew berries, and many bulbs including daffodils, narcissus, hyacinths, and snowdrop, if ingested, can cause illness or death. Research your plants in a vegetation encyclopedia before purchasing them.
Teachable Moments
A garden is an environment filled with teachable moments for you and your babes. By allowing your children to take ownership in part of the family garden, you provide them with a hands-on education. Give them kid-sized gardening tools
With a little creativity and some warm days in the sun, you and your little gardeners will be enjoying the fruits of your labor come harvest time. Perhaps your harvest will include a big basket of veggies and a constant influx of flowers gracing the dining room table. If not, you’ve still achieved success. You spent some quality time with your kids and helped them (and you!) develop a new appreciation for nature and all that it can provide for us.
Bio: Kim is a Worship Pastor’s wife and full-time mom to four crazy and beautiful kids. Toss in a part-time job, housework, a blog (www.fishbowlliving.com ) and what passes for a social life these days and she’s still wondering how she fits 32 hours into a 24 hour day.
