Children and Gardens

Garden planning is consuming a large part of my brain right now. With all the food storage going on, garden has taken main stage so I can learn how to can and store veggies from my own garden!

I can say that even during the early morning hours while I'm still barely asleep, I am thinking about the warm sun on my arms and neck while I lovingly care for my garden.

After reading Sharon Astyk's blog about involving children in the gardening, I've thought about ways to get my own children involved. The kids are very excited about planting seeds. Last year we sprouted seeds in the kitchen from March through the end of April. The kids LOVE this part of gardening, since there is nothing to do but check your seeds, water if they aren't inclosed in a sprouting system, and waiting for them to sprout and grow. It's amazing how a tiny seed can change so quickly, and that "magic" is what draws kids to plant life and gardening.

Sharon's view is that if you involve your children in the gardening, that they will take more personal responsibility for it, as well as incorporate the garden and growing their own food into their expectations in life. I have spent all the time raising the children by teaching them how to cook, write letters, take care of their rooms and our home by example, but never thought about involving them directly in gardening.

My plan this year with the garden is to grow food that we need the most. We eat a ton of can tomatoes in the winter. We make alot of soups, Indian foods and the kids love spaghetti. All of these things require tomatoes. So at least 25 to 30% of the garden is going to focus on various tomatoes. We also eat beans, so I'm hoping to be able to grow about 15% in beans and peas. The rest will be in salad greens, chilis, eggplant, potatoes and carrots. I may try my hand at onions, if possible.
I'll stuff various herbs here and there throughout the garden too.

So, besides that, I planned to grow some flowers, and really try to learn more about our two pecan trees so I can get the most out of them. I'm hoping to be able to trade pecans for canned foods as well, that is if the squirrels don't get to all of the pecans.

That leaves the children where? I've always wanted to grow a small "teepee" out of sunflowers and some vining flowers, that the girls could do some fantasy play in. Also, Sharon tried some other things like a "pizza" garden, which is shaped like a wheel, flowers are grown to represent what a pizza looks like (yellow flowers for cheese, red flowers for tomatoes ect). She also recommended that to get the children more interested it would be good to include a water feature. So, my thinking cap is on, and I am going to talk to the children about what they would like to see.

So, do you garden, and how do you involve your children?

Jyotsna