Gardening

Something about seeing that first cute little tiny green plant of the season pop up through the soil just always gives me hope. A lot of things may remain uncertain in our lives right now, but one thing that is certain (if you live in my part of the world) is that the weather will get warmer, summer will come, and so will growing season. This (at least for me) is an incredibly consoling thought right about now.

Gardening is one of the best activities to do with kids, and there are so many mental and physical benefits of gardening for all! To name just a few, it reduces stress, it’s therapeutic, it’s a reason to get out in nature every day, being in the sun raises vitamin D levels, it’s good exercise, it gives exposure to beneficial bacteria/soil based probiotics, food right out of the garden is some of the most nutrient rich food one could possibly eat, it’s great bonding time with kids, and it is also an amazing life skill for kids to learn. If your kids are anything like mine, they LOVE any chance to play in the dirt and they usually find ways to do this every time they go out. So, they are ALWAYS excited to help in the garden. AND I’ve noticed that when they help grow things in the garden they are way more likely to eat them, which is super helpful here in “I don’t like that” city.

If you’ve never planted a garden before, it’s WAY easier than it looks or sounds and you can either make it really simple or more complex.

There are a zillion things I could discuss about gardening, but I will stick to kids gardening activities, and tips and resources for you to start a garden if you haven’t ever planted a garden.

G A R D E N I N G A C T I V I T I E S F O R K I D S

B E F O R E: Get them excited with activities

1. Seed recognition

Have kids eat a few fruits and find the seeds in each fruit to teach how seeds come from the plant and that those seeds are the same seeds that we plant. (Apples are an easy one). (Save some seeds and let kids plant them – even if they won’t grow in your climate).

2. Art projects

Paint or color starter pots and garden markers. And/or have kids paint watercolor gardens and plants that you will plant in the garden or anything garden related.

3. Map out the garden

Either draw out a garden map together or use an online gardening software to map out your garden. Here is a free one: https://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/KGP-Design?SC=XNET0279

4. Letter cards

Draw veggies and fruits on cards or buy clip art and make alphabet cards (print out and write corresponding letters on each card). I love this gardening clipart: https://www.etsy.com/listing/225227463/vegetable-digital-clipart-fresh-herbs?ref=cart

5. Garden action

Teach about the life cycle of a seed, photosynthesis, companion planting, pollinators, and things that are not helpful to gardens (plants, insects, and critters). This adorable garden notebook by Raising Up Wild Things has such fun ways for kids to learn about these things: https://www.etsy.com/listing/795953281/the-garden-notebook-the-wild-childs?ref=shop_home_active_1&crt=1Paint/decorate plant pots or garden markers

6. Bugs

Helpful for the garden, not helpful for the garden game. Have a bunch of bugs (play bugs or pictures of bugs), draw a picture of the garden and have the kids match pollinators to the garden. Then, ask kids to separate the helpful and non-helpful bugs into two groups.

7. Gardening process

Have kids help get the garden space ready for planting, and help with all of the 9 tips for starting a garden (listed below).

8. Play doh

Make little garden models and/or little plants out of playdoh. Tomato plants are a fun one.

D U R I N G A N D A F T E R: Engage and process

P H O T O G R A P H Y (my personal favorite)

Gardens make for beautiful photos, and there are no photos that I love better than those from the magical perspective of a child (especially my little guys). Make a little garden journal to have kids follow the life of their seeds and plants through photos, and to document the progress of the garden.

Have your kids take a photo a day or a photo every few days of the garden/plants. Have them write their thoughts or observations and what they learned that day and/or ideas/questions about the garden in the journal every day or every few days as well. (Either print the photos at home or get the photos printed and make your own journal, OR I love the Day One app for things like this and you can get a book printed from that as well). Kids can also get creative with their journals and draw pictures.

They will love having a little journal/book to see all of their hard work in the garden and stay inspired to keep gardening. (This teaches kids about photography and art as well as about the life cycle of a seed/plant and observation, and photojournalism). Do this through the growing cycle, or near the end of summer/growing cycle.

Other photo ideas include, a framed photo to go on their wall or to give as a gift, or a collage or painting with their photos.

C O O K I N G (another personal favorite)

***Create a recipe: Have kids create a fun recipe with things that they grew in the garden (even if it’s just a few herbs), and help them (while teaching them to cook) their recipe for the family.

***Print up the recipe they created with one of their photos from the garden and hang it up. Or make a little recipe book with recipes that they create and photos they took.

***Recipe scavenger hunt: Have them find a recipe of something they want to make and have them see how many of the ingredients they can find in the garden.

L I F E L E S S O N S (to teach them while gardening)

I love the life lessons that gardening teaches and here are a few I’ve taught my kids.

***Companion plants help and non-companion plants don’t help and sometimes hinder. Some insects help the garden (pollinators) and some insects hurt the garden. (Teach kids how some things in their lives help them grow and to be more themselves, and some things keep them from growing or being more themselves. Talk with kids about the parallels of pollinators and companion plants in their own lives.***

***Weeds hurt and suffocate plants so they can’t grow. We need to remove them so that plants can grow. Sometimes there are weeds in our lives and in our hearts, and we need to find what those are and find the root of them and remove them (root and all). This will make room in our hearts for growth and for what is most important in life. This is something we have to keep doing every so often through the life of a plant and through our own lives.***

***Patience. I don’t know about you, but I always need reminders to be patient and training to be patient and I know my kids need that as well. I love that gardening forces us be patient and not have instant gratification, and to receive a beautiful reward/result.***

***Plants grow and thrive with ease when they have what they need (the right environment, food, nutrients, sun, space). They struggle to grow and fail to grow and thrive without the things that they need. It’s the same for humans. (Talk with kids about what they need to grow and thrive).***

***Life is about constantly sowing seeds and when we garden we learn the process of sowing seeds. We learn that we can’t just sow seeds and leave them, but that we need to cultivate them and help them to grow. We also learn that not all seeds we sow will grow or are meant to grow. (Talk to kids about how they are sowing seeds in their lives and talk about what they can do to help those seeds to grow).***

O T H E R G A R D E N I N G F U N

***Garden exchange/trade veggies from the garden with family or friends who also grow a garden.

***Drop little bags or baskets full of things from your garden and a fun little note from your kids on a family or friends doorstep.

N I N E T I P S (if you haven’t planted a garden)

1. Decide where you want to plant

Find a patch of dirt (as big as you can) where you can plant a garden. Get your garden ready (till or turn over the garden to get the soil soft), and pull out any weeds.

2. Decide what you want to plant

Smaller space = less plants, bigger space = more plants. (I know this is common sense, but I always forget this and get way more seeds than I can possibly plant). Step 3 will help with this, so buy the seeds AFTER you plan your garden.

***Favorite herbs: Basil, oregano, mint, chives,

***Favorite veggies: Arugula (my all time favorite green)! Soo yummy in salads and in everything, and I’ve never had a problem with this growing at least in Colorado (thankfully), mixed baby greens (taste so much more amazing coming straight from the garden), tomatoes.

***Best for kids to plant: Arugula and radishes because they are some of the first to come up. Pumpkins because they are fun for kids.

3. Decide how you want to design your garden

Square foot (recommended) versus regular, vertical or no vertical, patio or non-patio, indoors or outdoors.

Make a garden map to show where you will plant those plants. There are some amazing FREE garden planning apps that help map out the garden and show how much of one plant can fit in a given space which is super helpful. This will solve the problem of buying too many seeds. So, buy the seeds after you plan.

4. Decide when you want to plant

Plant starter seeds inside in spring (or wait until summer and buy starter plants) or both! I usually do the latter, and plant starter plants and seeds in the beginning of summer, but this year we starting seeds inside. We’ll see how it goes!

Plant any seeds you can outside even if it’s still cool (read the seeds to determine which like cooler temps). It’s worth a try. Just be sure to cover the plants if it gets below freezing with garden covers: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H4G6YDK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

When it gets warm enough, transplant starters outside (again follow directions on seed packets). Before transplanting, get the seeds adjusted to the outdoors (this is called ‘hardening off’). Here is a helpful link: https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/hardening-vegetable-seedlings

5. Read the seeds

Let the seed packets be your teachers! Those little seed packets are a road map for each seed and give you all the information you need to get them to grow. Read everything before you start.

6. Give them some love every day

Once you’ve planted the seeds, observe them and give them warmth, full sun (if outside), water, and patience.

7. Who/what are the garden’s friends?

It took me a while to realize that there are pollinators and beneficial insects, non-beneficial insects, beneficial plants, and non-beneficial plants or companion planting. Following are helpful links to learn about these:

***https://www.almanac.com/content/companion-planting-guide

***https://www.groworganic.com/blogs/articles/attracting-pollinators-to-the-garden

8. Try to keep critters away

Those well-meaning sweet little animals in nature will be attracted to your garden and will try to eat the yummy things in there. So, you will want to find something to try to keep them away. (I was only thinking this would be bunnies, birds, and squirrels, and was surprised last week to find out that my curious little guys were actually the first “critters” to get in and pull out the seeds we just planted).

9. Compost and coffee grounds

Get a few bags of compost and put a few handfuls at the base of each of your plants, AND sprinkle a few spoonfuls of your leftover coffee grounds around the base of the plant. It really helps them grow.

Hopefully, this article inspired you to plant a garden and do gardening activities with your kids this year! If you’ve never done this before, just keep in mind that things won’t always grow, critters might sneak in your garden, and bugs might eat some plants, AND it will still be a beautiful and yummy experience. Just have fun with it, remember that it’s all an experiment, keep your mind open to possibilities, and you will discover new things and get better at it every day. Now more than ever is the perfect time to grow your own food resource at home while simultaneously having a fun, bonding summer science activity to do with your kids.

Disclaimer: I don’t have a degree in horticulture, and there are many more things to learn about gardening than I mentioned in this article. :)