Gardening with children is a celebration. In a garden, every child has the intoxicating power to nurture living things, thereby creating her own world. These are gifts that will spill over and brighten the rest of her life.

To a child, watching a seed become a plant, a flower transform into fruit, and a bee fill its pollen baskets is pure magic. Packed into a small area of soil and green growth are all the ingredients for learning, discovery, adventure, and pure joy, as only children know it.

Follow their lead

You may not harvest exactly what you hope for from your garden, but your children will have an adventure in the garden every day.
After we bought our house, my husband and I spent a long winter dreaming of the first garden that our family would truly own. When spring came, we set out to create it. As we invested hours uprooting grass and spreading triple-mix to construct the perfect garden bed, we could almost see the thriving rows of plants. Hours later, this fantasy died as we watched our spirited toddler plant beans and peas by the fist-full randomly across the entire 20 foot plot of carefully turned soil.

We had a choice: force her to do it the “right” way and risk killing her enthusiasm or let go. We took the latter course, freeing her to follow her own vision. The garden became hers as much as ours and remained hers all season long. Hers to take pride in, to harvest, and this summer, to help weed as well!

We learned early on to sit back and learn with our children. They showed us how to give up our preconceptions of what gardens “should be” and learn to appreciate their true nature.

From the soil and the fruits and flowers to the myriad associated organisms, children take it all in. While adults tend to focus on the harvest, to a child, every leaf, flower and creepy-crawler is fascinating and worth a second look. And, fortunately, these things will be a part of any garden you create.

To add even more interest for little people, leave room for digging and building. Our children spend whole afternoons making roads for trucks, castles for princesses and homes for bugs, snacking on fresh veggies all the while.

Given a chance to get their hands dirty, even very young children will start to explore the process of cultivation. Encourage them to plant cuttings, old potatoes that have sprouted, pineapple tops, avocado pits, and birdseed. Your kids will have their share of disapointments but also lots of beautiful “ah-ha!” moments along the way.
Mix it up

Start planning the garden early. Each year, we take our kids to the hardware store to pick out seeds, and read gardening books with them. As soon as the sun shines with spring warmth, we start some of the slower-sprouting plants indoors. We’ve discovered that old yoghurt cups, milk cartons, and egg trays work just as well as new plastic pots, and reusing conveys an earth-friendly message to our kids.

Some larger seeds, such as pumpkin, can be started in moist paper towel, inside a clear plastic bag. Kids can see the transformation from inanimate seed to green sprout more easily and can learn to distinguish between roots and shoots. Creating labeled drawings and using a magnifying glass can enrich and expand this experience.

Plant seeds that will produce a meal. We’ve found that if our children can say that they grew everything in the salad bowl or the stir-fry, they proudly devour the fruits of their labours!

Kids are impatient, so choose plants that grow quickly and that won’t suffer from shallow planting or crowded conditions. Radishes, beans, and peas fit the bill. Also include plants that are fun to watch grow, such as pumpkins, cucumbers, corn and sunflowers.
Don’t be afraid to mix things up. Let potato plants bloom over pansies, and the spicy scent of herbs mingle with the sweetness of roses. Children don’t distinguish between weeds and plants, or between vegetable plants and flowering ornamentals.

Go organic

Once they are taught that it’s okay to eat fruits off the vine, children will be happy to take a bite of anything growing. To keep the garden safe, interesting, and beautiful, stay with edible plants and flowers, such as herbs, pansies, nasturtiums, chamomile and bee balm, and don’t use pesticides.

In addition to safeguarding your child, your decision to go organic will keep your garden safe for the birds and the bees and other insects (see The Good Guys). My family has learned some simple ways to control insects that destroy gardens. For example, we rotate plots of root veggies (planting in clumps makes this easier) to save them from pests that accumulate in soil over time. And, since healthy plants are better able to fight off pests, we create rich soil by working in compost or humus.

Other tips for new gardeners: protect your soil’s richness from erosion, conserve moisture around your plants, and inhibit the growth of weeds by spreading a dense layer of mulch over your garden.

Learning naturally

Gardens have so much to teach kids. To a child who has planted her own garden, the cycle of life suddenly becomes real. Similarly, the soil organisms, pests and predators that are part of the diversity in a garden bring the concept of “ecosystem” to life.

Children who help in their family garden learn to think globally. Eating food directly out of the ground (still warm from the sun) is an experience that will change the way they view the food on their plate all year. This creates all kinds of opportunity for discussion. When our toddler asked why tomatoes taste so different in January, we explained that they are picked weeks earlier, hundreds of miles away. A subsequent discussion about the fossil fuel cost of trucking tomatoes from warmer climates was more relevant to her because she had picked her own.

In taking responsibility for the many needs of a garden, children learn how to connect their actions with the results, for better or worse. Gentle and nurturing treatment of plants quickly yields healthy growth, giving a child powerful feedback and encouragement. By contrast, neglect leads abruptly and poignantly to the end of a good thing.

Garden a haven

When we first set out to create our garden, my husband and I were nearly paralyzed by the desire to live up to our own expectations. Thankfully, our strong-minded little first-born took the seeds from our trembling hands. Everyday thereafter, she showed us that although harvest may be months away, the beauty of a garden lies in every immediate detail of weed, seed, sprout, and creepy-crawler.

Sheila MacLeod Potter has worked as a biologist and teacher, and is now a freelance graphic and web designer. She lives in Lakefield with husband Derek, daughters Kaitlyn and Emily, and a husky named Max.

The Good Guys

A pesticide-free garden will attract an army of beneficial insects for kids to learn about. Bees, butterflies, flies, moths and even beetles provide a vital service to plants by carrying flower pollen from one plant to another to ensure the production of seeds and fruit.

Other amazing creatures will visit your garden. So have jars and magnifying glasses on hand for close scrutiny. Here’s a few of the bugs your family can look forward to seeing:

Praying mantis: Children marvel at these insect superheroes that are unmatched for strength and killing speed in the garden. Although they cannot hurt you, the mantids, as this group of insects is collectively known, are efficient predators of all kinds of other insects. Named for the powerful ‘praying’ forelimbs with which they catch and clasp prey, mantids also have huge eyes and a swiveling head that can turn 180 degrees on a slender neck, giving them a peculiarly perceptive look.

Assassin bug: Armoured, spiny-legged monsters, these bugs are all the more amazing when examined under a magnifying glass. Belonging to a large family of predatory bugs called the Reduviidae, assassin bugs can usually be found quietly waiting under a leaf or perched on a stem. When a prey insect (sometimes much larger than the assassin) happens by, the assassin grabs it with strong forelimbs, and impales it with a sharp ‘beak’ (proboscis),which injects deadly saliva, and then sucks out its liquefied guts.

Crab spider: Named for its crab-like hunting pose and body shape, crab spiders do not hunt with a web and are often beautifully camouflaged to match their plant or flower perch. Tell your kids to look hard because it’s easy to mistake them for part of the petal. Crab spiders like to hide with their long forelegs lifted until a prey insect comes within pouncing distance. Incredibly patient, they sometimes wait in the same spot for days until the right fly,ant or moth alights nearby.

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