Let’s do a little gardening! The last frost date is finally over. YAY! I have my little suburban farmers here ready to dig in the dirt and help me plant. It brings up to me Kids and Gardening: Growing a small garden with little suburban farmers. I think at any age kids can join in on gardening and learning to grow their own food. Here are a few ways we get out kids out and digging in the dirt.
I love involving my kids in out door things. We built a little tadpole pond and it fascinated them all summer. Gardening is another thing I help they develop a love of. Here are a few tips to get your own kids involved in gardening.
Engage your kids in gardening by letting your kids have their own gardening tools
One way we engage our kids in gardening is making sure they have kid’s sized tools that are safe for them to use. Sure they may want to try out mom and dad’s shovel, but really it’s not safe for them to handle. It’s fun for them to have their very own tools that they can use freely.
Have the kiddos start seeds in cups in late spring
All of the little gardener’s are planting their seedlings they started in cups in school. It’s so cute how excited they are to get their hands in the dirt. For a more eco-friendly version use toilet paper rolls or paper cups.
I love how they pat the beans in gently, even though we are sending them unknowingly to their  demise (The beans, not the gardeners…We have a lot of rabbits.)… I am sure by next week I am going to have to explain where their green bean plants have gone. Maybe I can sneak out and plant some bigger ones and tell them they grew big by some miracle and that a little gardening does pay off.
Give kids their own garden plot to dig as they want
My kids love digging holes, bout I don’t love them digging in my already planted areas when the Lavender is finally greening up. I can’t wait to have some lovely, sweet smelling lavender flowers for creating sachets and simple syrups from, I love making lavender sugar, and it’s a bummer when my kids dig the plants out of the ground. By giving them their very own place to dig and plant, they hopefully leave my planting areas alone. We also plant veggie seeds there so they can harvest their own when the times is right. We plant things like beans, carrots, peas and other kid- friendly veggies.
Plant safe plants your kids can pick from on their own
Berries are a scary one to have in the yard and I am super careful to make sure to pull out any plants that have berries that shouldn’t be there, especially those in the nightshade family. One thing we do though is have abundant raspberry plants that they are allowed to graze from at will. This way they learn to harvest their own food and hopefully love the feeling of picking a sun-ripened berry and popping it in their mouth. Also. letting them plant safe things like onions that area easy for them to hold and plant are great too.
We talk about what seedlings look like and plant identification.
Seedlings look different than full grown plants, and when we are outside I always point out good seedlings and harmful ones. Being able to tell the difference is a basic life skill.
We plant fun flowers like snap dragons they are allowed to pick without asking
Having fun and safe (non-toxic) flowers like snap dragons, cosmos (and of course all of the dandelions they want!) and more that they can pick freely makes it fun to watch the flowers grow and takes off the stigma of picking flowers. We always set boundaries that these are the flowers they are allowed to pick anytime and for all others they need to ask first.
These are all little things that have hopefully made my kids develop the love of gardening that I have. I hope as adults it’s something they return to and become a little self-sufficient about. I hope you enjoyed these tips on Kids and Gardening: Growing a small garden with little suburban farmers
If you love gardening, read more about companion planting here and how certain veggies do better when planted near each other.
If you are reading this post at any other sites or blogs besides Jenniferrizzo.com, your rss feed,e-mail or in your reader this is stolen content.
