Kids love to see things grow. But while children love to be out and about in nature, there are some pitfalls that can put a damper on their enthusiasm. The biggest way to avoid problems is to keep your gardening sessions short. Kids have notoriously short attention spans and, contrary to what you may believe, there is such as thing as too much of a good thing.
Safety in the Garden
- Sunburn: Because gardening takes place outdoors, the sun can pose a huge problem when gardening with kids. Take into account the time of day and the duration your child is in the garden. Mid-day in the garden without shade offers little respite from the sun's burning rays and should be avoided. Use sunscreen with a high SPF count, wear gardening hats and try to keep gardening times to before 11 AM in the morning and after 6 PM in the evening.
- Overheating and dehydration: To avoid overheating and dehydration, end your gardening on the porch with a nice cold glass of lemonade. Introduce your child to a few culinary delights from the herb garden and at the same time make a game out of teaching your budding gardener the official names of each flower or herb she comes in contact with. At the end of each lesson, let your child pick a bouquet of flowers and herbs, but only the ones that she recognizes and can name correctly.
- Mint leaves from the herb garden will add zip to a glass of lemonade.
- A handful of sun-kissed berries from the strawberry patch go with anything-perhaps you could serve strawberry shortcake for dinner.
- A bouquet of daisies or pansies makes a gorgeous centerpiece for the dinner table.
- Garden tools: Do not hand out garden tools to children. Instead, show kids the best way to pull weeds by hand. Explain the differences between flower or vegetable seedlings and weeds and turn weeding into a game. Bring along one pail for each child. Then see how many weeds each can pull in a short amount of time-with supervision, of course. Let the winner decide which vegetables should be picked for dinner.
- Lead contamination: Gardening is dirty work, so expect kids to get dirty. Gloves will help, but nothing works better than a lot of soap and water. As soon as you leave the garden, certainly, before you allow the kids to eat, everyone needs to wash and wash well because soil can be contaminated with lead, it's best to have your soil tested prior to allowing children to work in the garden.
Environmentally Friendly Gardens
Teach children how important it is to remain environmentally friendly in the garden.
- Pesticides: Don't use them. Period. Pesticides can harm more than bugs. Instead, pick potato bugs by hand. The same goes for tomato worms. Most garden pests can be eradicated with the help of a teaspoon of dish soap mixed in a bottleful of water. Spray the plants several times a week; repeat after it rains. To help repel insects, plant basil randomly throughout the garden-most bugs do not appreciate the taste or smell.
- Recycle: Use corrugated cardboard on the pathways to keep weeds down. Use only brown cardboard that has not been coated in wax and has no printing on it, as the ink and wax are environmental pollutants. Wet the cardboard. Each time you cut the lawn, have your children help you carry the clippings to the garden. Cover the cardboard with grass. If you do this, do not use pesticides on your lawn or you will contaminate your garden.
- Harvest: Children who help plant seeds will be more likely to enjoy harvesting the fruits of their labors. Once the food is picked, corn on the cob will need to be shucked and berries will need to be picked.
Incorporate Pleasant Surprises
Who ever heard of a purple potato? Peru. They've been growing purple potatoes since the time of the Incas. Back then, purple potatoes were considered royal food. Today, however, even your child can grow purple potatoes. Whose kid wouldn't want to eat food fit for a king? And did you know that you can grow red potatoes that aren't just red-skinned, they're red through and through. Kids will love them. And if kids fall in love with the vegetables they're growing, chances are they'll be more willing to eat them too.
Add a little pizzazz to normal vegetables and plant yellow tomatoes as well as tiny pear-shaped tomatoes, striped beets, blue corn on the cob, red or white carrots, white pumpkins and white tomatoes.
For another fun surprise, help your child make a summer teepee out of pole beans and Morning Glories. Both pole beans and Morning Glory vines will grow about 10 or 12 feet, so use long sticks. Make sure the base of the teepee is large enough for your child or children to sit inside. A flower-and-bean teepee is the perfect place for a picnic, once the beans and Morning Glories are full-grown.
Flower and Bean Teepee
- Startwith a long pole. Lengths are subjective; use your own judgment. Bury one end about two feet in the ground, so that the pole is standing upright.
- Takethe remaining sticks and place them around the supporting beam in teepee fashion. The bottom end of each pole should be buried in the soil at an angle, and the top of each pole should be lashed to the supporting beam. Use lightweight poles.
- Make sure the entire structure is secure.
- Helpyour children plant pole beans and Morning Glory seeds around the outside of the teepee near the sticks. The vines will climb the poles and soon there will only be a beautiful flower-covered teepee visible. Children will appreciate watering their plants and watching the vines climb up the sticks. And they'll love their secret hiding place in the garden.
