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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
Forsythia, 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.
Gardening Fosters a Healthy
sense of pride and responsibility.
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.
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