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Introducing Gardening to ChildrenRemember the first plant you grew? Maybe it was simply beans that you sprouted as part of a science class in school with the beans placed along the sides of a glass jar. Maybe it was a few bean seeds or some flower seeds placed in a styrofoam cup. Or were you lucky enough to have parents that gave you a corner of their garden and let you pick flower or vegetable seeds from a catalog to plant? Passing on an interest in and a love of gardening gives children a lifelong gift. Gardening provides pleasure and creativity in your life. So it will for your children. With gardening skills, your children can even provide food for the table. There are many gardening activities and experiments which can teach these skills to children. In many books on the subject, one activity included always seems to be to build a sunflower house but there are so many other creative ways to have fun gardening with children. Some catalog companies have prepared seed packages of "Kid Gardens" (try our Kids Butterfly Kit or Kids Hummingbird Kit) with colorful and quick-growing plants. But no matter what seeds you plant with your children, so much of the initial activity is underground. So consider starting your children off with plants instead of seeds. Have them pick one or two four- or six-packs of young plants. My suggestion would be one six-pack of flowers and perhaps one of some type of vegetable that the child likes. This way, not only will the child see the beauty of the flowers but she will also be rewarded with food that she grew. Set aside a small portion of your garden to be exclusively the child's. One morning of work digging holes in the dirt and transplanting the bought plants creates a garden. Now she can have the fun of watering, pulling the few weeds such a small plot will generate (and learning the difference between plants that are wanted and those that are not), picking flowers and vegetables, and enjoying the process. If this process is fun because she gets to work in her own garden alongside Mom or Dad, then next spring she will be ready for starting with seeds. Let her enjoy the winter thrill of perusing seed catalogs and creating a wish list. Although she may create a large "I want" list, and who among us does not, limit how many packets she may add to the purchase list. Remind her of the work required for way too many seeds planted in the garden. How many you limit the child to depends upon their work ethic, their age and your purse. Be sure when purchasing seeds to have a few which must be started indoors ahead of transplanting time. This will prolong the gardening season for your child and you. Prepare at least one or two special "demonstrator" pots in a glass jar filled with dirt and the seed(s) pressed against the glass. This will give you and your child the thrill of watching the "mysterious" underground processes of the seeds changing into seedlings. See the seed split, the roots appear and spread and finally the tiny shoots searching upwards for the light. Many other gardening activities can be done with children. Don't forget the proverbial sweet potato stabbed with toothpicks and suspended with one end into a jar of water. For a different twist, try growing a pineapple crown, onion, or an avacado seed. In summer you may try growing a cucumber in a jar and then pickling it. Or try growing a pumpkin in the new molds available with different "faces" for a lively Halloween gardening twist. Just pick up a science book at your local library and have a ball introducing fun gardening ideas to your children and to your self.
© 2005, Sandra Dinkins-Wilson Interesting Gardening News from Elsewhere
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