Summer Gardening with Your Kids

June 2, 2009 · Posted in Cookin' Kids, Kids Health and Safety

It is one of my favorite times of the year…time to garden. I love the whole process, from beginning to end. I love the preparation, the turning of the soil, composting and all the broken fingernails that it brings. And, I especially love involving my two young boys.

Composting

Firstly, I’d like to let you know how easy it is to compost. There are many products out there that you can purchase to help the process along, but I am somewhat frugal, so I improvised a bit. I went to a Bargain Outlet and spent maybe $5.00 on a black trash barrel. I took scissors and poked lots of holes in it, all the way around. I dug a small divot in the dirt where I wanted to place it so that the barrel is tipped at a 45 degree angle. That’s it! The boys and I throw all our veggie and fruit scraps, egg shells, grass clippings, leaves and some dirt with worms into it. Every now and then, just rotate it so that it mixes a bit. Next Spring, you have yourself some “Black Gold”…perfect natural fertilizer for your garden! Here are some further tips: U.S. EPA Website

Tomato Ideas

Now, to the garden…My 5-year old is a big tomato fan, so this year, he chose many different types of tomatoes. There are big ones, small ones, yellow ones, red ones and golden ones. We enjoyed the planting of these as well. This led to a great question…what the heck am I going to do with all of these tomatoes?! I came across a great blog posting at Dr. Mommy Health Tips called “5 Ways to Enjoy Tomatoes” so I thought I would share it with you. Some great tips to preserve them all year long. I would love to hear what else we can do with the thousands of tomatoes that we are expecting.

Size Doesn’t Matter

You don’t need much room for a few veggies that your family may love to eat. Ours is somewhat small and includes the things that we buy weekly during the winter months. It is a fun and educational experience for kids and they absolutely LOVE to eat what they are growing. Classic choices are cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes (of course), perhaps some broccoli and cauliflower. There are lots of options for you.

Fun with the Kids

The key is to involve the kids and to make it fun for all. My kids LOVE playing in the dirt, so asking them to dig holes was no chore to them. They love playing in the water and spraying the hose, so watering the garden becomes fun for them too. And there is nothing like picking their own veggies and eating them right off the plant. My kids cannot wait to pick all the ripe veggies. If you have too much to possibly eat, what a great way to share home-grown garden-fresh produce….bring some to your friends and family! They’ll love ya.

Weeds & Maintenance

If you are not a lover of gardening because of the maintenance involved, there are natural ways to help. If you absolutely hate pulling weeds, you can help prevent them by putting your grass clippings all around your vegetable plants and cover the dirt completely between them. Keep layering it. It serves a couple purposes, often preventing weeds and also keeping the moisture and nutrients in the dirt for the veggies to feed off of.

If you are or are not much of a garden-lover, I have one final interesting blog reference. You can actually eat your yard-weeds away! Did you know that dandelion greens were VERY nutritious? I didn’t, until I read this post… Eat Your Weeds Away: Dandelion Greens. A must read!

Send Us Your Tips

I hope you find some of these tips inspiring and helpful. I am always looking for more tips and hints, so if you have any to share, please post them here.

Happy gardening!

raelynn @ Kidz Comfort