[gardening]
	Gardening is a great way to spend time with your kids and a healthy hobby to nurture in them in today’s world of electronics. By Andi Diehn

orsythia, tulips, and daffodils are more than just flowers — they’re also signs that the long winter is over! For the large gardening population in the Upper Valley this is welcome news. If you haven’t gardened in the past, now is the perfect time to catch the fever — especially if you have kids. Spring is in the air.

In these modern times of TV, computers, and video games, enticing children of all ages into the great outdoors is becoming more and more important. Gardening is one of the best ways to do so. It is a great way to spend time together, and it’s also fun and educational, and deepens a child’s respect for nature.

Here are a few tips to make gardening with kids a yearly success:

Getting Started

Just because there are still a few patches of snow on the ground, doesn’t mean you and your child can’t begin your new pastime. In fact, with the short growing season in the Upper Valley, it is recommended that you and your children give your seeds an indoor head start on their journey to harvest or bloom. (Garden centers like Longacre’s Nursery Center begin stocking trays, seeds, peat pots, and peat cells in January.) As you plant, discuss with your kids what the seeds will become — a picture of the eventual plant will motivate them. A few good plants to start indoors are tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, marigolds, and impatiens. To show your kids how strong sprouts are, place a coin over the dirt-covered seed and watch what happens when the seedling begins to come through.

When all danger of frost has passed, it is time to start digging—usually this occurs in mid to late May. Rob Rice of Plainfield, New Hampshire, says, “My son is involved in everything, from spreading manure to planting cover crops. He loves gardening — and especially planting the seeds. The plants can end up a little bunched up, but that’s part of the learning experience and fun!” Lettuce, spinach, and beans are a few plants that can be planted as seeds directly into the springtime soil.

There are plenty of shapes for gardens other than squares or rectangles. Pie gardens are popular in families with multiple children — everyone gets a slice! Be creative and remember to allow for plenty of sun. Rachel Roper of Meriden, New Hampshire, plants what her family calls “pizza gardens” with her sons. “We put tomatoes, basil, peppers, and onions together in a circle. The kids know there’ll be an end product after all the work.” One of the most exciting types of gardens to plant with kids is a butterfly garden! Asters, snapdragons, marigolds, and echinacea all attract lovely visitors, and hummingbirds will buzz around anything red.

Kids and poison don’t mix, so instead of using pesticides, use natural remedies to keep pests away. According to Melissa Longacres of Longacres Nursery in Lebanon, New Hampshire, “onions and garlic help repel bugs and also larger pests like moles.” Lavender, chives, and marigolds also help discourage pesky critters from munching on your plants.

Along the lines of not using chemicals, teach your kids about compost. Start saving kitchen scraps today (excluding anything with dairy, meat, or oil) and pile them in a spot in the yard that’s close enough to where the garden will be but out of sight and smell to around the house. When there’s no snow on the ground, mix in straw, leaves, grass clippings, and manure, if you have access to it. Every once in a while turn over the compost to allow air inside. When your compost is fully decomposed and looks like rich dirt, spread it over your garden or work it into the top six inches of soil. Late fall or early spring are the best times for using compost.

Waiting, Weeding, and Watching

Kids of all ages are good at watering gardens — and if they are made responsible for the watering, they can discover first hand how discipline pays off! Talk with your kid(s) about over watering because too much water drowns plants.

Don’t let your kids leave all the weeding and pruning to you. Help your kids learn to identify weeds and explain to them how weeds must be removed so that they don’t hog all of the nutrients intended for the plants. If your garden is overcrowded you may have to remove some of the young plants to provide enough space for the maximum number of plants to reach their full potential.

Throughout the growing process, kids love to use their own bodies as measuring tools. One day the corn might be up to their knees; a few days later it could be up to their hips; and then one day they’ll be looking at it face to face. If they’ve been measuring the plant with their bodies all the while, they’ll get a real kick out of this. Lori Estes of Meriden, New Hampshire, made sunflower houses with her son. She said, “He loved it when they got so much taller than he was!”

Harvest Time

When your produce is finally ready for little hands to tug, twist, and snap, the fun continues. Not only will your kids enjoy picking the flowers and plants, but they’ll also derive satisfaction from arranging the flowers in vases or preparing the vegetables to eat. You can do all sorts of craft projects with the flowers and the veggies will be great in salads or (with a little olive oil) roasted on the grill.

Just as children these days spend less time outdoors due to an abundance of electronic entertainment, they also eat less vegetables with the surplus of packaged junk food. Start a garden today and come August through early October you’ll be pleasantly amazed at how willing children are to taste vegetables they’ve grown themselves.

For more ideas on gardening with kids, go on the web to www.kidsgardening.com or read Kids Garden by Avery Hart and Paul Mantell.