Gardening with Children!

Gardening with children has many benefits. The health benefits include growing foods rich in micronutrients that children are more likely to consume and prepare because they helped develop. Growing vegetables and fruits not only saves money, but it’s also good for the environment. The food doesn’t have to travel far to get to our plates.  Another lovely benefit from gardening, aside from children learning new life skills, is its collaborative work that fosters relationships.

How to start a garden?

1. Know what vegetables and fruit are in season for growing. Google your location and local planting calendar. Most seedbeds are prepared by early Spring. If you’re like me and have had little to no experience with gardening, I recommend watching a few how-to start a garden videos on youtube.

2. For seeds to properly germinate, they need:

• Adequate water (Water plants in the morning to prevent fungal disease. Water seeds evenly. For better drainage and aeration, raised seedbeds to work best.)

• Favourable temperature (Typically 18–21°C or 64-69 °F)

• Available oxygen (Seeds have generally planted a depth of two times their width. Make sure the soil is loose enough for aeration but still able to hold water.)

• Light (In the Southern Hemisphere, North facing seedbeds get the most sunlight, and South facing seedbeds get the most sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere.)

3. What type of growing media you use will depend on your soil conditions and the plant's needs. Seedbeds will need aeration, good drainage (crumbly soil), and topsoil at least 30cm/12inches deep.

 

4. Peat (decomposed plant matter) is added to soil to help hold water. If the ground needs more drainage, sand is added. Dolomite and lime help raise soils ph levels. However, a fungicide can help control fungal diseases. It can kill young seedlings, so be careful. 

I’m very new to gardening, but I want to share what I’ve learned so far with you. Hopefully, you’ve gained some valuable information from this post, albeit short. Happy gardening!

    They were growing sugar baby watermelons! 

More fun activities!

Grass heads in a cup with a laminated picture of your child's face :)

    Steps:

1. Laminate a picture of your child's face, cut it out and place it inside the plastic cup.
2. Have your child fill the cup with soil and sow some grass seeds!
3. Ensure they provide adequate water (but not too much) and ensure that the seeds get plenty of sunlight.     

Grass heads in cheesecloth!

1. You need soil, grass seed, cheesecloth, buttons and straight pins.
2. Make a small sac with your cheesecloth.
3. Put a few tablespoons of grass seed inside the cloth, then layer it with soil.   
4. Tie the small sac off with a knot or rubber band.
5. Secure buttons with straight pins to make a face.
6. Place the grass head in a cup that's regularly watered and has access to plenty of sunshine.
7. Have fun watching how fast the grass heads grow! 

Taking children to pick strawberries is also fun, educational activity!

    Picking (eating) strawberries