Tips for Keeping Kids Engaged in Gardening • Don’t underestimate what a child wants to learn. Study topics like foods you want to grow, composting and beneficial insects, then share what you’ve learned with your young helper. • Start small. A surprising amount of food can be produced in a 4’x6’ raised bed or containers filled with a potting soil made for growing vegetables. • Purchase kid-specific gardening tools for your children. The smaller size handles and implements are easier for kids to use than full-size tools and give young gardeners a sense of ownership over their equipment and the tasks around the garden. • Make a day of if when you buy seeds or young plants. Children will look forward to it each year and enjoy the opportunity to help decide what to plant. • With young children, plant fast-growing crops like radishes and lettuce . If you start in early spring and water daily, you’re likely to notice seedlings within about three days. Check the soil every day with your kids so that the planting will be fresh on their minds when they finally see the plants emerging. • Involve your child in daily garden tasks. Set goals at the beginning, like watering and weeding the garden together twice a week, then lead your family in keeping the commitment to each other and your garden.
Bergin Family Favorites • Green beans are easy to grow and fun to plant and harvest, even in a small garden. • Cherry tomatoes are prolific and hard to mess up. The fruits are also sweet and delicious. • Perennials like asparagus or blackberries take longer to establish but they help keep children interested and excited about gardening when they come back each year. • Purchase a bag of beneficial ladybugs from a local garden center or online, then release them into your garden with your children. It’s great fun for everyone! • Find an online resource or book to guide your efforts. There are many excellent options. Good starting points include the book The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Edward C. Smith or the “From Seed to Spoon” app for your iPhone.
THE BERGIN FAMILY GARDEN YIELDS A VARIETY OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.
16 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / JUNE 2020
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