Part 1

Spring is a great time to introduce children to gardening. The ground is still moist from winter and the warmer days mean plants germinate and grow with abundance.

Gardening can help children connect and understand about the seasons, plants and animals that live alongside them and importantly the food we eat. It can provide fun and fascination for big and little people alike and there is always something for everyone. It just takes some dedicated time, patience and creativity to get started.

1. Planning

Start with a brainstorm session with the children about what they might like to grow. Are they interested in growing vegetables, flowers, herbs, succulents, fruit or a combination? Take into account their ages and attention spans; my youngest child loves easy to grow brightly coloured calendula flowers whilst the eldest has attempted to grow more unusual edible vegetables like dinosaur gourds.

Do they want a plot of soil or are they happy to use Styrofoam containers filled with compost, plant pots or something on a window ledge? (Of course work out what you have available before offering choices!)

Choose plants that suit your area and climate; remember the aim for your child’s garden is to be an inspiring and motivating experience for them. Try unusual plants and seeds such as three colour carrots, purple potatoes and yellow tomatoes! Fast growing seeds are good such as radish, sunflowers, nasturtiums, rocket and peas.

Consider size of seeds versus age of child. The younger the child, the larger the seed the better! Most children manage bean sized seeds or alternately use seeds that come cheaply in ‘bulk’ and don’t matter if they get spread around such as sunflowers and lupins .

2. Organisation

Seeds (including the unusual ones) can be ordered online (see below); or a family trip to the local garden centre may be the go. If your children are a little impatient it can be worthwhile to buy some flowers and vegetables in punnets so they have something ‘instant’ to watch whilst waiting for their seeds to come up.

Work out where in the garden the bed is going to be. Give them ownership of the bed (however small) to grow their veggies, flowers and fruit; don’t be tempted to use some of your own gardening ‘space’.
It must be a sunny open location where plants will grow, yet protected from play activities.
For my son’s first garden spot I had suggested a location that in retrospect was too shaded by overhanging trees as well as being too close to a swing, the plants did not grow well and thus of course his interest waned.

If the soil is poor or rocky and needs lots of preparation work this is best done prior to initiating your children’s garden. (You may wish to consider a no-dig garden).

3. Getting started

Getting the children to define the edges of their garden bed or garden ‘area’ themselves is important. They could perhaps use sticks, rocks, old fencing or whatever takes their fancy.

Once this is done it is important to rake over the site and ensure the plot is weed free; a great job to do together.

If needed some organic animal manure (pellets or composted), blood and bone or compost may be dug in.

If you are considering climbing plants now is the time to put up bamboo rods or fencing stakes for support. Adult assistance is obviously essential during this stage.

If it needs some protection from roaming animals like dogs and chickens don’t forget to do this now.

4. Planting

This is the exciting part for most children; I find with more than one child it is worth staggering the planting to ensure you can supervise and keep calm by focusing on one child at a time!

Guidance with planting method (how deep to plant, how far apart) is essential regardless of age as exuberance often takes over at this stage. Reading the seed packet or a planting guide together beforehand aids this process too.

Marking out rows and plants with labels after planting is invaluable not only to see what is growing but also to remind children where they have planted so they don’t plant over or trample on that spot!

Mulching with materials such as straw, old leaves and lucerne chaff between rows, around plants and on pathways is the final touch. It is worth motivating the children to ‘complete’ their planting with mulching so that future maintenance is less of a chore.

5. Maintenance

Keeping children enthused can be tough, however regular reminders when you yourself are going out in the garden or an offer of your help are great motivators.

Keeping the emerging seedlings free of weeds and the soil topped up with mulch regularly will ensure the plants have the best chance of success.

Remembering to water every 3 or 4 days in warm weather is important, marking a reminder on the calendar can help.

Children may also enjoy filling a watering can every 3-4 weeks with a seaweed solution (many commercial preps available, I use Seasol) and giving their plants a nutrient rich drink. This is safe for children to use.

I encourage you to try and garden organically (not using fertilizers or garden chemicals), it is better not only for your children but will also encourages beneficial bugs and earthworms in the soil and garden which will give additional fascination !

Note: No-dig gardening involves layering straw, animal manure and compost, see online or Ester Deans book ‘no-dig gardening’ for more information.

Mail order non-hybrid seeds available at www.diggers.com.au; www.edenseeds.com.au; www.greenpatch.com.au; www.selectorganic.com.au and www.greenharvest.com.au.

Happy gardening!

Next time; Part 2: From the garden and beyond .

Rachel Furbank
Sustainable living eco mum

Insight

It was one of those mornings. I woke up to find rats had chewed their way through the long life milk in the pantry; the garden hose had blown a hole and our precious water was running off down the hill. Getting the children ready for school was plain hard work. I was frustrated by the weather. As the days get shorter, I have expectations that the weather will gradually get cooler with the golden leaves slowly falling in the orchard. I carry this European notion in my head of how ‘seasons should be’. Autumn here is different experience altogether, a frustrating combination of cold windy days where you feel the hands of winter at you and then long stinking hot spells where the garden withers yet again. Rain is scarce. The leaves hang on, rarely change colour and fall in one hit of strong wind.
Nature is harsh and extreme at times. This morning I found myself resisting against it all, irritation, shortness of temper and forgetting breakfast were the result.

On the phone later I glanced out the door and caught my breath. A large wedge tail eagle swooped down 10m from where I was sitting and picked up a hare in the paddock. I laughed, nature is harsh at times but also so exhilarating! In that instant the irritations of the morning and the weather left me as I was brought back into the present (in a dramatic fashion). With sudden clarity the realization came of how I had been carrying and building up as irritation all the unexpected turns of events and things outside my control.

Going with what has happened unexpectedly instead of resisting the event brings aliveness and clarity as rewards. Letting go of past events that cannot be changed also allows more tuning in with what is happening now…
See the unexpected and unpredictable in a positive light; as adding uniqueness to your day. If the seasons gradually melded from one into another and the weather was predictable, if getting out of bed brought an identical day as the day before with an identical routine then any aliveness would be lost.

Each day is unique, if not make it so.
Finding the days ‘uniqueness’ only requires stopping for a moment. Watch a child’s face as it ever changes and/or their growing sense of self. Look out the window and watch the sky, the garden, a bird on the fence, the lady walking down the street. Taking time to just observe (even for a few moments) each day will allow for finding something that makes the day ‘different’ and unique.

Until next time,

Rachel Furbank, Sustainable living eco mum