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:
   

Are Food Products Killing Us?

Here is a great article by Scott McGuire - we shared a video on him and his magnificent garden several months ago. He has a great blog and website, if you want to check them out, and this article really hit home for me - probably because it focuses on the same things I'm always harping on about - toxic "food" substitutes killing you and the environment, local sustainability, and growing your own food!  :-)

Image via WikipediaCheck out this great article (click the link to read the whole thing), and then get your own sustainable garden started!

All You Need Is… Food
Are Food Products Killing Us. There’s a secret to surviving in these times, a secret to longevity that most of us have forgotten. It’s very simple, as most remedies for over-complexity must be. The best way to get by, day after day is to… eat food.

Ah, so obvious you say. But hardly anyone eats food anymore; everyone eats food-products. If you bought it in a carton or can, a box, baggie or seal-wrap, then it’s not food, it’s a food-product. Food would be… beans. That’s right, just beans brought to a boil. Or greens. That’s all; fresh plants chopped into a bowl, not the pseudo-nutri-garnished shredded cardboard confetti shot into a plastic clamshell and trucked all over refrigerated wastelands just so green shoppers can pretend they’re eating lower on the food chain.

This is a critical distinction to make. Food is food, and food-products are what we commonly mistake for food. This difference has been forgotten for so long, that today people cram their pie holes full of the most unrecognizable crap, and imagine that’s just the way it’s supposed to be. Well, it is for now, but not for long. What will it take to snap us out of our snack-trance delirium of auto-ingestion?

Everyone who currently confuses food-products with food is also deeply mesmerized by the common delusion regarding where food is obtained. Right now, your average eater is convinced that the only way to eat is to buy food products from a store, and not food from some person they actually know. You know, like we did for most of human history, during the dark, pre-modern days when we all had to pay personal attention to our food-supply, because food didn’t magically appear like today....
Publish Date: 04/09/2011 11:41
http://www.scottallenmcguire.com/eyeonthehorizon/food-philosphy/all-you-need-is-food/

Great Sustainable Gardening Video

Here is an excellent, inspiring video which has important implications for our future. I like this video because it does allow you to see how much can be accomplished holistically even on a short term basis – not just in the long-term permaculture context.

It is great to see people like this out there doing this kind of work and bringing the topic to our attention. I was in a hurry, but SO glad I took the time to watch this — It’s definitely worth a watch, and I am glad to be able to spread the word and share it with you!

An Experiment in Back Yard Sustainability
Peak Moment 51: Tour Scott McGuire’s “White Sage Gardens” in the back yard of his rental home — a demonstration site for suburban sustainability. He ponders, “How might a household produce and preserve a significant portion of its own food supply?” …



My favorite quote from this video: “There’s NOTHING that isn’t food for something else.” 

Related articles on Backyard Sustainable Gardening:

• Self-Sufficiency Versus a Backyard CSA (Video) (treehugger.com)
• How to Create a Sustainable Garden (gogreenstreet.com)