Make Gardening a Family Affair - Part 4: Have Fun!

There are a lot of things you can do in the garden that can be a lot of fun for your whole family, while making your garden even better!

For example, composting can be a fun project for adults or kids. Even though it does require some patience and effort, it’s something that kids will enjoy getting to help with. If you have depleted soil, you can give it back its natural vitality and health by using compost.

Compost scraps in a bin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can easily make your own compost, and it’s a great thing to add to the soil to grow better fruits and vegetables. You can get everyone involved in helping save the household waste that can go into the composting pile instead of into the garbage can.

Your family can learn how composting helps the garden by helping the soil retain moisture so that plants get the water that they need. Kids can learn how to tell when a compost pile is ready and which containers are best or easiest to use when creating a compost pile.

Gardening can be a fun family project when you allow your children to decorate their designated spaces in the garden. They can decorate with little toy butterflies or birds, and of course they can grow flowers as natural decorations!

You can let your child plant a fairy garden somewhere in their garden, and there are kits to help you do this. They can also use small decorative lights in the garden. Just make sure they’re placed far enough away from the plants so nothing hinders their growth.

Another fun thing that you can do is to make sure that every family member has his or her own gardening tools. Kids especially love this idea. You can even get a gardening bag that’s monogrammed with his or her name on it.

Child sized rakes, shovels, watering cans and hoes are good items to get, especially if the children are small - because they won’t be able to use many of the standard full-sized gardening tools.

When they have their own tools, kids will feel more involved in the process. Plus, child-size gardening tools also come in fun colors, which will help make it more interesting for your child. They’re also much safer for small children to use than standard adult-size gardening tools.

Toys gardening together. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Encourage your child to learn how to take care of his tools, how to clean them, and then keep them safely stored with yours until the next time they’re needed.

By teaching your child about the joy of gardening, they’re more likely to enjoy healthier food later in life.

Gardening will also open your child up to the huge variety of different fruits and vegetables available to choose from when it comes to eating. Instead of having to eat standard vegetables like peas and carrots all the time, your child may be open to trying more exotic and unique ones. This is a good way to get your child to eat vegetables. Many times kids don’t like standard vegetables like Brussels sprouts and broccoli, but if you introduce them to different ones - especially vegetables they grew themselves, they may be a lot more open to eating them.

The fun doesn’t have to stop when the garden items are harvested, either. You can teach your child how to make their favorite dishes with the vegetables and fruits that they grew as well! If you have a lot of berries, you can also teach your child how to make jam - or tasty smoothies using fresh fruit from the garden.

Not only can gardening help create special time together, but you’ll also be eating healthier as a family, and teaching your kids healthy habits that can last a lifetime. There's no better gift you can give!


Gardening Tools for Kids:

 

Make Gardening a Family Affair - Part 2: Getting the Kids Involved

It isn’t always easy to get the kids to help around the house or work outside. Gardening can be a great way to change that. Let your entire family be involved from start to finish.

If you’re starting a garden from scratch, it’s a good idea to include your family members when picking a spot for the garden. This will help them feel needed in the garden and will get them excited at the thought of planting.

Make sure you involve the kids when you’re picking out most of the fruits and vegetables to grow. While you may choose something more useful, or a vegetable everyone in the family will eat, younger kids will enjoy a variety of plants. Some kids can have fun picking brightly colored fruits and vegetables.

Miniature bell peppers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bell peppers are great for small children because they’re some of the easiest vegetables to grow. Radishes are also very easy to grow and brightly colored. Snow peas are another great crop to garden with kids.

Both radishes and snow peas grow during the cool seasons. Kids tend to enjoy fruits more than vegetables, so strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries are great choices. Others may like getting fruits and vegetables that are more unique and that they aren’t used to seeing daily.

Also, you can look into miniature vegetables, like baby carrots and potatoes, baby cauliflower, and baby lettuce. These are perfect for little hands and they come in a variety of colors.

Baby vegetables are perfect for helping your child feel more confident when working in the garden because they’re easier. You don’t want to overwhelm him or her by starting with large fruits and vegetables that may be more difficult to care for.

Be careful that you don’t overwhelm your family if you’re someone who’s been gardening for awhile. Keep in mind that a medium-sized garden to you can seem huge to a child and a large garden can seem like it’s a daunting task to someone who isn’t used to it.

A good way to handle this is, if your children are very young, you can assign them each their own “spots” or “plants” in the garden. This way, you can look over them in the overall larger garden, but they’ll be learning how to water and care for a vegetable or fruit on their own, without feeling too overwhelmed.

As your children get older, you can expand their garden spaces so they’re growing more plants. You can also help to make sure as the space expands, that your children learn how to grow a wider variety of fruits and vegetables.

You can also broaden their cultural knowledge by planting fruits and vegetables that are used in different ethnic meals. You can introduce your family to several different vegetables when growing them.

Experimenting with different dishes is a great way to have some fun with your family. Your kids will enjoy picking out new dinners based on the foods that were grown in the garden!

Aside from picking out the seeds to plant, your family can help with the preparation. Kids especially like this part. Most kids love to help with getting the soil ready for planting. Digging is often a kid’s favorite part of working outside, but don’t limit him to just working in the dirt. Kids are very resourceful and will enjoy learning about and working in all parts of the garden.

Girl with Watering Can (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If your children are very young, make sure to let them know they’re doing a great job whenever they’re working. It will help them feel more confident about what they’re doing.

Children can also help plant the seeds and water the fruits and vegetables as they grow. If your children are little, you can purchase tiny plastic watering cans so they’re able to water the plants along with you.

You can also keep a small corner of the garden for growing flowers along with the food items that your family chooses to use. Marigolds are great for gardens because they’re low maintenance and easy to care for.

Whatever flower you decide on, make sure it’s non-toxic if you’re gardening with small kids. When planting and caring for a garden, remember that while you know better, if you’re working with younger ones, they might not realize that they can’t put everything from the garden into their mouths. Some vegetable tops can make a child sick. So make sure they understand the importance of not eating out of the garden unless it’s an appropriate food item and has been washed first.

Engaging your kids in the process of growing a garden can be a great way to help them learn about the world and become more self-sufficient!

It's also a good way to keep your family involved with one another, and give everyone a sense of responsibility over their own area of the garden. We'll discuss this aspect more next week, so be sure to check back then for some more family-friendly gardening tips!

Make Gardening a Family Affair - Part 1: Why Gardening Is Good for the Whole Family!

Gardening offers so many benefits for those who make it a part of their lives! It can put some extra food on the table, offer nutritious foods for your family’s good health, and it can be a fun hobby, too. However, not only can it be a great activity for one person, but it can also be a bonding experience for the whole family to do together.

When you involve your loved ones in gardening, it also lightens the workload of one person having to prepare and care for a garden, and it will give your family time to support each other, offer praise, and share excitement – all in a peaceful setting without the intrusion of electronics.

It’s easy to get your whole family involved in creating and maintaining a sustainable garden. Your spouse and children can help take care of the garden as a whole - with everyone working side by side, or you can split up portions of the garden into different sections and rotate it among family members so that each person spends time helping another person in your family.

Why Gardening Is Good for the Family

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gardening isn’t just a good hobby. You can learn a lot of different things through gardening, including self-sufficiency. When you involve your family in the process of growing their own fruits and vegetables, you’ll be helping them learn many useful things that can benefit them now as well as later on in life.

When your family gardens, everyone will have to learn which fruits and vegetables are best grown in the spring and summer, and which ones are best grown in the fall. You can give everyone a lesson on planting zones and how to choose which produce grows best in your area.

You will also learn how weather can affect plants, how water and sunshine help the plant to grow, and what bugs are attracted to certain plants. These facts will interest teens as well as younger kids.

You can learn more than just the facts and benefits of plants for food. When you garden with your family, you can learn other uses for a plant. For instance, some of them have been used throughout human history to treat certain health issues.

Teach them that the basil they’re growing can possibly help treat headaches. Let them know that the lavender they see sprouting up is something that can help calm and soothe them after a stressful day, even helping them sleep better at night!

As you work with your family to plant and care for a garden, let them learn which fruits and vegetables work best with certain dishes and which ones they like most. You don’t want to plant something no one likes and that you’ll never eat!

Gardening is also a great way to explore and learn brand new foods to try. If you’re first starting out, use fruits and vegetables that are easy to grow, such as beets, carrots, cucumbers, snap peas, and blackberries.

Once you’ve been gardening for awhile, don’t be afraid to experiment with different fruits and vegetables. Mix up your garden to create some color and variety. Have fun letting others in your family choose what to plant in the garden! Teens and younger kids will especially enjoy having this choice.

Another benefit of gardening is getting to watch your kids become self-confident when they learn to grow a vegetable or fruit on their own.

You’ll also get to see your child become more responsible as they take care to water the plants and pull weeds to help the garden grow.

Let your family members each be responsible for their own fruits and vegetables. Allow them to learn and to research the care that different types of plants need.

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gardening can also help open up communication. If you have older kids and teenagers, many parents find it hard to communicate with them. But if you can have them help you in the garden, it creates time you can spend with them one on one – without friends texting them or the TV blaring in the background. Sometimes, all it takes is doing an activity together to help strengthen family bonds!

Not only does gardening help with communication, but it also opens your family up to having something they all share. It helps bring the family together and adds closeness.

This works the same with your spouse.

If you both work, time with each other can be limited. But having something that you both take care of together can offer a time for communication as well as a fun hobby.

Just keep in mind that different family members will enjoy certain tasks more than others. While you might enjoy pulling weeds, another family member might not be so thrilled with it. Make sure to split up the tasks so no one gets stuck doing something he or she hates.

As you can see, gardening together as a family has many benefits for everyone, and can help bring your family closer together doing something productive that you all can enjoy!

Be sure to check back next week for some more helpful tips on getting your kids involved in the garden....

5 Best Veggies for Beginner Gardeners

Growing our own vegetables is one of the most rewarding things we can do for our health! But for beginning gardeners, starting a vegetable garden can seem somewhat intimidating. Whether it's a busy schedule that keeps you from being able to devote your full attention to your garden, or simply a seeming curse on every plant you try to grow, it can be hard to get started with growing your own vegetables at home - but don't fret because we've got some helpful tips for you this week!

Here's a list of the five best vegetables you can start with even if you're still a newbie gardener - and these are also great fun for kids to grow:

Carrot diversity (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. Carrots – They're orange, they're tasty, horses around the world love them and so can you! Being a root vegetable, carrots are mostly safe from the elements so all you have to do is plant the seeds during some cool weather and in a few months (depending on variety) they're ready to pull up, wash off, and bite right into! If you're feeling adventurous, try a different kind than your standard orange carrot. Carrots come in a wide rainbow of colors, from white and yellow, to purple, and long and skinny to fat and round, so there are lots of interesting shapes and colors to choose from!


2. Peas – Peas go on this list like, well, I'll leave that joke where it is. Peas are easy to grow, especially if you have something they can grow on like a trellis or fence, although you can just use a wire support if your yard or garden bed isn't in an optimal place. Another cool weather veggie, these go great with carrots both together in your garden and on your plate in a fresh salad.


3. Pumpkins – Not just for carving for Halloween, although you can grow that variety if you'd like - but there are more tasty options out there. Pumpkins are fairly hardy provided you wait for frost season to be over, and they're great for watching grow from tiny flowers into big tasty treats. Perfect for planting when you can plan for them to be ready in the fall for October and November for pumpkin pie, you can cook and eat them tons of different ways or just enjoy a healthy, delicious batch of pumpkin seeds!





Black Pearl Peppers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

4. Herbs – Basil, cilantro, sage, and thyme - no it's not a Simon and Garfunkel song - it's a list of great additions to your garden! Herb gardens are easy to put together and can even be grown indoors in windowsill planters if you've got limited growing space outdoors. Just pick some of your favorite herbs and and plant them together in a planter, and you'll have fresh herbs ready to pick and put right into your favorite dishes whenever you want to add a dash of fresh flavor to a meal.


5. Peppers – Whether you like them hot or mild, you're sure to love them colorful and tasty! Peppers grow in close to the same conditions as tomatoes, making them a great choice for new gardeners to sink their teeth into (depending on how hot they are of course!). Peppers can be sweet and tasty when eaten raw, and can also be made into myriad dishes from pasta sauces and chili, to curry or stuffed peppers.

Even if you feel like your green thumb is more like the touch of death all you might really need is a little practice with some veggies that are a little easier to grow. Start off with some of these popular and easy-to-grow gems, and you're sure to find your garden bursting with fresh vegetables of all kinds in no time!

Video - Gardening Tips for Kids

This short video gives some great ideas for things that kids can plant in their gardens in the spring, and it also explains some fun teaching opportunities that gardening provides, so you can teach your kids about nature and how things grow. Getting kids involved in gardening is a great way to give them something to do outdoors, as well as build confidence and skills they can use throughout their lives.

Good Morning - Gardening with kids
You're never too young to start gardening, and if your kids are driving you batty cooped up indoors over the school holidays, why not let them have a crack a...

Getting Children Into Gardening

If you have ever wondered how to keep your children productively occupied for hours on end then it's time to introduce them to the joys of gardening!

Children can really enjoy growing plants particularly if they have their own area of the garden where they can see the results of their own efforts growing there. It will give them a sense of reward to see what they have been able to accomplish, whether it is a lovely bouquet of flowers, or fresh, tasty vegetables they grew themselves and now get to contribute towards the family dinner.

Children gardening (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gardening is also a very healthy pastime that will get them out of the house and into the fresh air. It will do a lot more good for their health than sitting in front of a computer screen or playing on their PlayStation all day.

They will also be learning about gardening and as this is one of the most popular hobbies it will give them a knowledge base that they will benefit from for years to come.

Gardening can also help to relieve stress and fatigue and there are more and more children suffering from that these days. And it can increase confidence and self-esteem, which are important things to instill in your children from an early age.

By getting your children to work alongside you in the garden, it will help to build better family relationships too, and that is something that no amount of money could ever buy.

Some children may even use their gardening skills to make a few dollars of their own by selling the plants and vegetables that they have grown in their own garden to others during their school holidays. Not only do they get a sense of accomplishment from this but they can also get monetary reward for their work. If you have ever seen the delight on a child's face after they have sold something that they have grown themselves in their own garden then you will know exactly what I mean. It can be more exciting than opening their presents on Christmas Day!

Gardening has many great benefits for children, so don't keep it all to yourself - involve them from an early age, and when they're old enough, give them their own little garden plot to tend and care for. It is an investment in them that will yield dividends for many years to come.

Video - Fun Garden Ideas to Get Kids Gardening

Getting your kids interested in gardening is a big part of creating a sustainable future for our planet. With the health of our society in decline, lifespans (in Western countries) actually growing SHORTER instead of longer, and the trend towards ever-more processed, modified, and artificial foods, it is more important than ever to re-learn the joy and healthiness of growing our own food - and pass this knowledge on to our kids. (Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now!)  :-)

This quick video offers some fun and creative ideas to get your kids interested in gardening by growing a theme garden. (See below video for some other helpful resources.)

Check it out, and get your kids off the couch and out in the garden this summer! You may be surprised how much they enjoy it....

Herb & Vegetable Gardening with Children.mov
Gardening Expert Melinda Myers appears on the Morning Blend to talk about tomatoes, herbs, a pizza garden and other fun and creative gardens and containers to get the kids excited about gardening. www.bonnieplants.com melindamyers.com www.themorningb...
 

Fun Kids' Gardening Resources:
   

5 Easy-To-Grow Herbs - For Kids Or Adults

If your kids are looking for something easy to grow in their little garden patch this summer, herbs may be a great option. And if you don't have kids, or if they're not the gardening type, these are still a great option for adult gardeners too! Herbs are one of the most useful items to grow in your yard or home.  They grow quickly and a quick snip of the scissors brings fresh taste to your recipes and dinner table.  Here are 5 tasty, useful, and easy to grow herbs, and tips for growing and harvesting them.

Basil

English: Thai basil with flowers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are a number of basil types including spicy Thai Basil and Sweet Basil, which is commonly used in Italian cooking.  Basil can be grown either indoors on a sunny window ledge or in your garden once the fear of frost has passed.  Simply place the seeds in the ground per the package directions, The plants can grow up to two feet high which means you’ll want to start thinning them until they’re about six inches apart.  Leaves can be picked and used for seasoning when the plants are six weeks old.  If you’re going to dry leaves then pick them before the plant’s bloom spikes appear.

Mint
Mint is delightful in drinks, deserts and in many Middle Eastern dishes.  Mint, a perennial, is easy to grow because it really doesn’t care much about the soil it’s planted in.  This makes it good for even those with brown thumbs.  If you’re growing mint outside then take care because it spreads like a weed and can take over your garden or lawn.  This makes it a great herb to grow in pots, or indoors in smaller window ledge containers.  Leaves can be harvested as soon as plant reaches six inches. 

Dill
Dill is an easy to grow herb and fits quite nicely in a flower garden.  It grows to about three feet tall and produce yellow flowers.  Both the greens and the seeds from the flowers can be used to season food. Your kids may be interested to know that this is the herb most commonly used in making pickles! The leaves are best harvested before the flowers open.  The seeds can be harvested when the flower is open and they’ve ripened.  It’s advised to sow them from a seed as transplanting dill plants is difficult.  Like Basil, plant seeds after danger of frost has passed. 

Herbs: Thyme, oregano and rosemary (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thyme
In drier climates, Thyme is actually used as a xeriscape ground cover.  This means it’s quite hearty and grows like a weed!  You can grow them in a container garden, right in the soil, or on your window ledge.  Thyme is another one of those herbs that comes in a number of varieties.  It’s best to grow it from a cutting rather than directly from a seed because seeds take a long time to cultivate. 

Parsley
Parsley, either curly or flat leaf, is another easy to grow and quite versatile herb.  Like many other herbs, it grows quite quickly and reseeds itself, which means you could easily end up with a garden full of parsley if you don’t prune and keep an eye on it.  Sow from seeds directly into your garden.  They’re not choosy about their soil but they do like a lot of sun. 

Growing herbs at home doesn’t have to be left to the green thumbs in the world.  Many herbs are tremendously easy to grow and practically raise themselves, which  makes them ideal for kids who want to try their hand at gardening, and for adults who are new gardeners or simply haven't had much success with gardening so far.  Whether you garden with your kids or without, indoors or out, in containers or in a small plot in your yard, herb growing is a great way to add flavor and fun to your summertime meals.


Easy Herb Gardening Resources: 
   

Gardening for Kids - A Fun Summer Activity!

Here is a summer activity for your kids that can last the entire summer.  Helping the kids grow their own garden is fun and they will be able to reap the benefits before school starts again by harvesting their own vegetables. And it's something you can do together throughout the season!

Growing radish plants (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This activity will require some pre-planning and most likely should be started before school is out, but you can still start now if you buy plants that are already sprouted.  It is fun, however, for kids to to germinate the seeds indoors themselves if there is time.

Beans, radishes, and carrots are all easy and fairly quick vegetables to grow.  Strawberries are a popular alternative to vegetables and are also considered an easy plant to take care of, although they may take a year or so from planting to bear fruit.  Have the children make home-made row markers for their vegetable garden using paper and Popsicle sticks.  You can have the pictures laminated or do-it-yourself with some clear packing tape to protect them from rain.

Make the garden the child’s responsibility. If there is already a garden plot in your yard give them a section to call their own.  Most children can be in charge of their own weeding and watering.  This is another good activity that fosters independence and will give the children a sense of accomplishment come the end of the summer – eating vegetables that they grew themselves in their own backyard.

If fruit and vegetables do not interest your child, try a different kind of plant.  Growing sunflowers is very rewarding.  They can grow up to 8-12 feet tall and the seeds are edible.  Or, go to the garden center together and let them pick out a small plant or seeds that they want to take care of for the summer or maybe for longer if they pick a perennial plant.

Video - Schools Offer Gardening for Kids

More and more schools are incorporating gardening into their curriculum for the kids. This short video shows the garden/learning center at a school in Dallas. Using gardening to teach kids about science is such a great way to get them outdoors and involved in their environment in an easy, fun, and meaningful ways. In the video, they also quickly touch upon what you could do to possible get a garden started at your school.

Check this out, and of course we'd love to hear your comments!

Gardening with Kids
Getting kids involved in gardening is important for their development. This Dallas school has created a curriculum around getting kids into the garden.

(Note: This one seems a bit slow even though it's short; if the video skips, hit Pause and let it load for a few seconds and then it should play more smoothly.)

Indoor Gardening for Children

If you have young children around, an indoor garden is the perfect project to teach them about nature.  It is also an avenue to teach children about the responsibility needed to care for something on an ongoing basis.  Simple is best, even for older children – as they prove themselves and their garden thrives they can expand the plants that they grow.

To enrich the learning opportunity purchase clear containers to grow the plants in.  If you can not find a traditional pot that is clear make sure the container you use either has a drainage hole in the bottom or layer gravel on the bottom before adding the soil.  Once the plant starts to grow more the roots will become visible in the pot.

Image via WikipediaChildren will love to grow their own vegetables and maybe even eat them once they are ready.  Buy each child a large container that is theirs to take care of and let them pick the type of vegetable they want to grow.  The easiest vegetables to grow indoors are carrots, tomatoes, and radishes.  There are a wide variety of tomatoes that you can grow from beefsteak to cherry tomato.

The next time you eat an orange, save the seeds.  Children can plant the seeds in small containers about 1 inch down into the soil.  By keeping the plant watered and in the sunlight, in two to three weeks they will have their own citrus tree growing.  They can choose to keep it indoors or plant it outside in the summer when the small plant has become bigger and stronger.  Try the same with other fruit seeds too from watermelon to apple seeds, for some fun and variety.

Getting children to help with your houseplants is a good idea too.  Children love to help out with adult chores and it gives you a break at the same time.

Terrarium as Indoor Garden - Great for Kids!

This is not so much for us vegetable gardeners, but can be a cool idea for getting your hands dirty with a bit of indoor gardening, and especially for getting your kids started with their own little garden!

This is also a solution for you if you love the look of plants indoors but don’t have the time or a green thumb to take care of them.  A terrarium is a self-contained plant habitat.  Once you have set-up the terrarium and closed the lid (on the jar or other container you have chosen) the plants inside create their own eco-system – all you have to do is enjoy it.

The choices for terrarium containers are only limited by your imagination.  Traditionally a smaller aquarium is used with a lid but a glass jar or other container will work nicely too.  Plastic will work as well, just make sure that it is a clear plastic or you won’t be able to admire your handiwork once it is completed.  Whatever size or material you choose for your terrarium the most important factor is that it does not leak.  You need the water and moisture to stay inside for it to work and you don’t want a mess inside your house.

Image via WikipediaThe plants that you choose should all thrive in similar conditions and grow well in a humid environment.  Popular plants to put into a terrarium are carnivorous (Venus Fly Trap (kids will love these!), sundew, or pitch plant) or rain forest plants (chamaedorea palms, small ferns or fittonia). 

Terrariums are a low-maintenance indoor garden.  They need indirect sunlight (not too bright) and very little watering is needed after the initial water is added.  The heat from inside the terrarium evaporates the water and then it condenses on the lid falling back down to the plants.  This process will continue keeping your plants alive.  If there is too much water present, you may need to vent the terrarium (with a vented lid or opening the top a small amount) just be sure to keep an eye on the soil’s moisture level (not too wet or dry).

Related articles on Terrariums & Indoor Gardening:

• Select the Best Plants for a Small Plant Terrarium (brighthub.com)
• How to Create a Terrarium? (brighthub.com)
• Gardens under glass: Terrariums flourish (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• 5 Indoor Garden Design Ideas (mademan.com)