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Kids and Gardens: We Learn
Children — especially young children — have a beautiful, innocent, and inquisitive spirit that makes gardening particularly beautiful to share with them. But what is the thing about Kids and Gardens? WE LEARN! What am I talking about? Well, I have two boys who are currently 4 and 6 years old. We love all things outdoors, but from the first bean we sprouted in a plastic bag that hung taped to our 6th floor big city apartment window to the most recent oregano sprout that popped out of the dirt this morning, they have both LOVED to watch things grow! To them, gardens are awesome, and by extension to me, Kids and Gardens are absolutely MAGICAL!
We learn together about what plants need to grow, and what we need to grow. We learn to responsibly water our garden if it hasn’t rained, and we learn that food that we buy from a grocery store was actually grown somewhere, and didn’t begin in the super market! We learn together how to figure out what’s eating the leaves (and yes, they get super excited when we find the hornworm or whatever) and then they are tasked with taking the things over to eat things that are NOT our garden plants… And then we research together what we can do to prevent the critters from coming back into our garden.
I want my children to know that beans come from plants not from cans– That ketchup is made from tomatoes, and that eggs come from chickens, not super markets! We have together discovered that you can cure blossom end rot with egg shells, and that soapy water and diligence can wipe out a white fly infestation in your garden. We’ve learned that you can use coffee grounds and cinnamon in your garden (and your sand box — go figure –) to stave off fire ants and other critters (like cats and squirrels), and that if you study a bit, some beautiful flowers also serve as deterrents for pests that plague certain crops! They are like little sponges, and they love to watch their gardens grow!
And the extra bonus? Kids and gardens often result in healthier kiddos who eat a wider array of veggies because they grew them! Even my pickiest eater loves broccoli, beans, peas, and yellow squash because “you have to at least try what you grow!” And YES, he is a picky eater — we’ve done 3 rounds of feeding therapy! We steam most of our veggies because we want to actually taste the vegetable (as opposed to all the accoutrements that people put on them), and our kiddos prefer them that way! In fact they also prefer raw carrots and fresh greens! I definitely consider this a bonus for them and our family as a whole!
So, do yourself a favor… if you have kids in your life (or next door, or nearby), invite them into your garden! You will NOT regret it, and you just might learn something from them! And you’ll teach them that they can actually grow healthier by enjoying healthy foods! If you are looking for items that will help you start a garden with your kids, check us out at GrowHealthYourself.com.