Help for children
Thu, 2009-09-24 09:41 — gardenfairie
I want to get my children into gardening but being a beginner myself i am not sure how best to encourage this and what is best to try first. Any suggestions ... ? Thank you
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I remember having a small
I remember having a small patch of garden at school, and even during the winter we'd play around with 'landscaping' it, by adding ponds or paths for snails!
And then in the spring we could add some annuals to brighten it up as well as fun veggies (like white strawberries or round carrots - I think there are some in Sarah Raven's seed catalogue)
I'm going to let my daughter
I'm going to let my daughter have a patch to grow as many sunflowers as she likes. they look great en masse and also grow quickly to keep to keep her interested.
Have you tried a local
Have you tried a local gardening club? one near me has started a children's garden (on local allotment)and its had a lot of interest and enthusiastic new members!
It's a difficult time of year
It's a difficult time of year to get children excited about gardening, but you could sow some sweet peas for next year. This will give the children something to tend through the winter (checking they don't dry out or succumb to the frosts), and they will romp ahead when you get them in the ground in the spring. I would recommend Sarah's book, Grow Your Own Cut Flowers. It will tell you all you need to know about growing sweet peas successfully. Of course, the children could help you build an archway this autumn to grow them up...
And indoors you could simply grow cress on the windowsill. That gives a good quick result. If you hollow out a large potato or small squash/pumpkin and fill it with soil (you only need an inch or so) you could carve a face on the veg and the cress becomes the hair on top.
You could prepare a strawberry patch – you will probably get much more fruit if you put plants in the ground now.
And you could plant some bulbs now for Christmas. Paperwhite daffodils and hyacinths – but make sure you buy the prepared bulbs. Again, you'll find how to do this in Sarah's book, I think – or even elsewhere on this website.
I gave the children each a
I gave the children each a little patch in the summer, and they were very involved in the sowing, potting out and harvesting, although the weeding did not go so well. I think they need to enjoy the produce before they can really get into the labour!! Sunflowers were a great source of excitement, and those winter ideas are great - I'm going to try them out....thanks!!
Mine are 3 and 1 and I am
Mine are 3 and 1 and I am encouraging them as well. This seems mostly to be by eating the produce and picking flowers, fruit and beans etc at the moment. My 3 year old has his own little watering can, spade, fork etc so he can "join in".
When I was little I used to have my own space in the garden, and I grew quick things like radishes, peas etc?