Creating a garden with your child or grandchild can bring a crop of sweetness to your home.
If you’re new to vegetable gardening, and want to make it a family project, here are a few pointers to get you started, along with some advice from local garden club members.
Budding Gardeners
While kids love to play in the dirt, getting children interested in gardening takes a little bit of time and effort to make it a fun-filled learning project.
“There are many ways to get children interested in gardening,” says Sally Knurek, member of the Westlake Garden Club. “Planting a sunflower seed in a cup, then transferring it outside to the garden and having the child measure it every week is just one activity. Of course the old standby, rooting an avocado seed or a sweet potato vine in a glass of water, exposes children to plant growth.”
“Start with plants that kids identify with such as pumpkins and sunflowers,” says Pam Reitz, president of the Bath Gamma Garden Club. “Plant crops that are easy to grow, have a short growing season and are fun to harvest like lettuces, radishes, carrots and nasturtiums.
“Give them their own space in the garden and engage them to take charge through the whole process from starting seeds, to planting the plants then watering and watching them grow,” Reitz continues. “Boast about their efforts by taking pictures and sending them to family, show visitors their garden space, give recognition and serve their crops at the family table. This helps keep them engaged.”
Or, if you decide to purchase plants, discuss as a group on the way to the garden center what plants you’d like to grow. Kathleen Rhodes, a member of the Sunday Afternoon Garden Club in the Akron area, suggests, “Pick plants that will grow quickly to keep the child’s interest, such as cherry tomatoes or lettuce. Watching pumpkins ripening on the vine is also fun for kids to experience.” Even picky eaters may try new veggies if they’ve grown them themselves.
Once you decide on what you’d like to plant, it’s usually best to start small. Tending a large garden can quickly become overwhelming. Picking a small plot to work for your first garden venture will keep the project manageable. Choose a sunny location — generally, vegetable plants need about six hours of sunlight a day.
Cultivating a Garden Plan
The seed packets or plant tags that are included in each pot provide a wealth of information, including the plant’s common name as well as its scientific name. When you’re picking plants at the garden center, check the tags for the plant’s sun, water and size requirements.
Some plants, such as tomatoes, may grow to be 2 feet wide and 5-6 feet tall, so you also may need to pick up some stakes or a tomato cage while you’re at the garden center.
Space out your plants according to the plant’s “mature size.” This is approximately how large the plant will grow under the proper conditions. Give the plants some room to grow. You may need to leave a little room between rows to walk around the plants to check on their growth and to harvest the vegetables.
After you and your helpers change into grubby clothes and old shoes — no one wants to worry about his or her good clothes getting messed up — you’ll need to prepare the bed. Other Sunday Afternoon Garden Club members suggested purchasing child-sized gloves, trowels and watering cans to make it easy for little ones to be involved.
If you have heavy clay you might need to mix in some peat moss or compost to loosen the soil enough for the roots to have some room to move and grow.
Once you’ve got the plants in the ground, you should “water gardens once a week, moistening the soil to a depth of 6 to 8 inches for best root development and plant growth,” according to Garden
Guides.com. “Frequent light watering causes shallow root systems.”
Your plant tag or seed packet should also tell you approximately how long until you can harvest your produce.
“Describe to the kids what to look for — whether the fruit is ready to pick or if it needs a little more time on the vine,” Rhodes says.
If your garden produces more than your family can devour, have the kids donate some of the fresh produce to an elderly neighbor or friend.
Growing Interest
There are many ways to keep kids interested in their new garden even when the sun isn’t shining. Keep a journal and include pictures the child has drawn of the plants at different stages. Older kids or parents can take photos of the work they’ve done and the plants’ growth to include them in the journal.
“Keeping a journal of observations of what is growing in the neighborhood teaches an appreciation for nature and plants,” Knurek says.
Your next craft can be painting plant markers or rocks to help distinguish one sprout from another.
“Many other activities are detailed in a book called ‘Green Thumbs: A Kid’s Activity Guide to Indoor and Outdoor Gardening’ by Laurie Carlson,” Knurek says. “I would also suggest a visit to the Hershey Children’s Garden at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. The gift shop there is full of items to interest children in gardening. Another book of interest is ‘A Child’s Garden: Enchanting Outdoor Spaces for Children and Parents’ by Molly Dannenmaier. The Cleveland Metroparks also have wildflower trails for visiting in the spring.”
“Kids are curious and like to learn by doing things, plus they love an opportunity to play in the dirt,” Reitz says. “Through gardening, children can experience the satisfaction of nurturing something over time and see the results of a seed sprouting into a growing, living plant. Gardening also teaches environmental awareness and is an opportunity to teach them early on to be good stewards of the land.”
Kneeling together with your child or grandchild may even cultivate more memories than produce.
Watch our “Gardening Fun!” Pinterest board for more garden-related ideas and activities.
