Plant Gardens 101

If you have young children around an indoor garden is the perfect project to teach them about nature. It is also an avenue to teach children about the responsibility needed to care for something on an ongoing basis. Simple is best, even for older children – as they prove themselves and their garden thrives they can expand the plants that they grow.
To enrich the learning opportunity purchase clear containers to grow the plants in. If you can not find a traditional pot that is clear make sure the container you use either has a drainage hole in the bottom or layer gravel on the bottom before adding the soil. Once the plant starts to grow more the roots will become visible in the pot. (more…)

Apparently, we can see how features is treated these time. It is a sad thing to know the people do not pay interest so much anymore to the environmental evils. What can we do about this? It’s as unfussy as opening with the children. It is good to see the children’s involvement with environment-open activities. One such makeup-loving activity the children could certainly get their hands on is farming. Why should you judge farming for your children?

Here are the benefits that farming could clearly give the children with:

1. Science

In planting, children are indirectly trained the wonders of science like the lodge’s life phase and how creature’s intervention can defeat or make the environment. They can have a first-hand experience on the miracle of life through a seed. This would definitely be a new and enjoyable experience for the kids. (more…)

We fancy our children and we want to coach them to cost the equipment that are important to us. These stuff compose morals, integrity, skill, and appreciation for the clothes in life that we judge scenic and value expending our energy, time, and sweat to build. One of those gear that many of us like allotment with our children is our devotion of farming. Whether you are creating a spectacular backyard laudable of acclaim, fame, and down streamers everywhere or an austere backyard that will secure appealing plants and a few darling vegetables there are many training that your children can learn from running the earth by your elevation.

The first, and perhaps best, warning that most children learn when working in the plot is that life works in cycles. This is an important tutorial for children, as it is a seminar that will be constant regularly throughout the course of their lives. Of course this is only one of the many teaching that farming will educate but farming is one of the kindest ways I’ve ever seen this particular period scholarly and it helps edge children into those times when teaching about the series of life are not so humane or gently presented. (more…)

Apparently, we can see how nature is treated these days. It is a sad thing to know that people do not pay attention so much anymore to the environmental problems. What can we do about this? It’s as simple as starting with the children. It is good to see the children’s involvement with environment-friendly activities. One such nature-loving activity that children could easily get their hands on is gardening. Why should you consider gardening for your children?

Here are the benefits that gardening could easily provide the children with:

1. Science
In planting, children are indirectly taught the wonders of science like the plant’s life cycle and how human’s intervention can break or make the environment. They can have a first hand experience on the miracle of life through a seed. This would definitely be a new and enjoyable experience for the kids.

2. Life
Watching a seed grow into a tree is just as wondrous as the conception to birth and growth of a child. In time, kids will learn to love their plants and appreciate the life in them. Gardening could actually help simulate how life should be treated — it should be with care. The necessities to live will be emphasized to kids with the help of gardening – water, sunlight, air, soil. Those necessities could easily be corresponded to human necessities, i.e., water, shelter, air, food. By simply weeding out, one could educate how bad influences should be avoided to be able to live life smoothly.

3. Relaxation
Studies show that gardening can reduce stress because of its calming effect. This is applicable to any age group. More so, it stimulates all the five senses. Believe it or not, gardening may be used as therapy to children who have been abused or those who are members of broken homes. It helps build one’s self-esteem.

4. Quality Time with the Family
You can forget about your stressful work life for a while be soothed by the lovely ambience in the garden. You can play and spend quality time with your children. You can talk while watering the plants or you can work quietly beside each other. The bottom line is, always do what you have to do, together with your kids. You might discover a lot of new things about your child while mingling with them in your garden.

Let kids become aware of their environment’s needs. And one way to jumpstart that environmental education may be through gardening. It’s hitting two birds with one stone — teach them to respect life while you bond with them.

Learn about cherry pitter and calories in cherries at the Cherry Facts site.

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Apparently, we can see how nature is treated these days. It is a sad thing to know that people do not pay attention so much anymore to the environmental problems. What can we do about this? It’s as simple as starting with the children. It is good to see the children’s involvement with environment-friendly activities. One such nature-loving activity that children could easily get their hands on is gardening. Why should you consider gardening for your children?

Here are the benefits that gardening could easily provide the children with:

1. Science

In planting, children are indirectly taught the wonders of science like the plant’s life cycle and how human’s intervention can break or make the environment. They can have a first hand experience on the miracle of life through a seed. This would definitely be a new and enjoyable experience for the kids. (more…)

What is the best way of getting your children interested in growing vegetables?

Well in my view you need to give them their own space. Tell them this plot is yours. It doesn’t have to be large, about 2 feet square for younger children or you could even get them started by growing crops or herbs in pots. Older children may prefer something larger. I know that a small high density bed that is only 2 foot by 2 foot doesn’t sound very big, but it will be to a young child. A larger bed may just seem too big to do anything with to them, so start them small. If you have more than one child, give them their own high density bed each or just make a larger bed and divide this up into a section for each child and then divide this into mini plots for each crop. For very young children I would not make the bed more than 2 feet wide as they can reach the middle of this from each side.

What I would do is start them off with their own high density gardening raised bed built from timber that is at least 6 inches deep. This will give a soil depth which is deep enough for most easy to grow crops. You need to fill this with a soil mix and I would recommend buying this in the form of bagged peat or coir, bagged well rotted manure and maybe a bag of sterilized topsoil as well. As you have some manure in there you need to instill in your children good hygiene with hand washing after gardening and before eating. Mix your soil ingredients together and then fill the high density garden bed. If you are using 6 inch timber you will only need 2 cubic foot of soil mix. Once you have done this I would divide the bed into 4 mini plots using a brightly colored plastic string. I have gone for plastic as it does not rot and is safer for little hands than wire. Simply staple this to the timber. To increase interest, get your child involved in building the high density garden bed and even a trip to buy the soil mix and the seeds. (more…)

Home composting is one of the best ways to cut down on waste going into our overtaxed landfills.

Food waste, leaves, and grass clippings contributes a huge 24% of solid waste in our landfills. As these materials break down in a landfill situation, they produce Methane Gas, an explosive GreenHouse Gas. This can leach through the ground and affect surrounding residential or business areas. This solid waste also takes years to breakdown, rather than months in a composter.

In a composting situation not only will this matter break down faster, more efficiently and non-toxically, it also has many benefits to our environment.

What you can and should compost:

Cardboard Rolls, Clean Paper, Coffee Grounds, Coffee Filters, Eggshells, Fruits, Veggies, Tea Bags, Nut Shells, Cotton Rags, Dryer Lint, Vacuum Cleaner Lint, Fireplace Ashes, Grass Clippings, Hair, Fur, Houseplants, Leaves, Sawdust, Shredded Newspaper, Wood Chips, Wool Rags, Shrub and Perennial Trimmings

What Not To Compost:

Charcoal Ashes, Black Walnut Leaves and Branches, Diseased or Insect Infested Plants Fungicides, Pesticides, Insecticides, Dog /Cat Feces or Litter, Dairy Products, Meat/Fish Bones or Scraps, Fats,Grease, Lard or Oil (more…)

Enjoying your gardening passion with your children can be as rewarding an experience as it is fun, however, for many gardenophiles limited yard-space is a problem that may not allow them to share their passion.  Here are some tips you can follow so that you may encourage the love of gardening with your children even if you do not have the space in your yard for it.  The answer: Hydroponic Gardening.

Hydroponic gardening is a valuable teaching tool and a great way to transfer your knowledge to a new generation that would likely have not gotten it anywhere else.  The experiences children have with their parents or grandparents tend to stick with them throughout life and creating a hydroponic garden with your offspring can be one of those lasting impressions that kids remember.

Experiences aside, creating a new hydroponic garden can be a very fun project for you and your children.  And, if you start it indoors, the weather outside is not an issue, so this can be the perfect rainy or snowy day activity that actually provides learning and value, not just busy-time. (more…)

Silverbeet

Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris cultivar

One of the easiest to grow of all the vegetables, Silverbeet, also known as under the names Swiss Chard and for the coloured stemmed variety Rainbow Chard, gives a huge harvest in a short amount of time. Two plants would be enough to feed one person with silverbeet for every meal of the week

PROPAGATION You can grow these plants directly in the ground from seed, or you will get 6 to 8 seedlings in a punnet for around $3.00 at your local nursery. Seeds can be sown in early spring and late summer, early autumn. Put two or three seeds in the one hole about 40cm apart and 1cm deep. Keep the seeds moist, but not wet. I prefer late autumn plantings, as I find they are less likely to bolt to seed than spring plantings. (more…)

Give them their own ‘patch’. This is a great way for kids to learn to be responsible for something. It’s best if their patch is small, at least in the beginning. If they love it and want to do more, you can always make it bigger.

You want to encourage them by getting results as quickly as possible. When I was a little tacker it seemed like time almost stood still – especially when I was waiting for something. Start with seedlings of lettuce, cherry tomatoes or snow peas – foods that they love and are quick to give results. Potatoes are always a winner. Digging them up is like digging for buried treasure!

Take your little one(s) with you to select seeds that they can grow in their plot. They’ll probably choose plants with bright colours and interesting textures, which will add interest to your dinner table. You’ll find they are really keen to eat what they’ve grown, so you’ll have them trying new things. This also gives them a valuable sense of contribution to the family and pride in themselves. (more…)

Well in my view you need to give them their own space. Tell them this plot is yours. It does not have to be large, about 2 feet square for younger children or you could even get them started by growing crops or herbs in pots. Older children may prefer something larger. I know that a small high density bed that is only 2 foot by 2 foot does not sound very big, but it will be to a young child. A larger bed may just seem too big to do anything with to them, so start them small. If you have more than one child, give them their own high density bed each or just make a larger bed and divide this up into a section for each child and then divide this into mini plots for each crop. For very young children I would not make the bed more than 2 feet wide as they can reach the middle of this from each side. (more…)

If you can create a sense of nature, patience, and an appreciation of work they’ve done themselves in your children, you will have accomplished something great. This will have provided them one of the longest lasting gifts you could give them. One way to accomplish this is to encourage them to learn vegetable gardening. All that is needed is a small patch of earth, some seeds, and water. Some other things that may be added along the way will be wonder, laughter, and dirty faces. All of this will be mixed together to provide a very memorable project and experience.

Obviously, it is best to have your vegetable garden outside. That is if you have the space available. With a good shovel, you can cut an outline of the garden in the grass. Your child can then pull the sod away and set it aside it for composting. This will be another great lesson involving the cycle of nature that can be saved for another day. After you have bare earth, your child can help turn the soil with a spoon or trowel until it’s workable by hand. Have your child place the seeds on the top of the soil, cover lightly with earth, and add water. You have just taught your little one the basics of vegetable gardening!    (more…)

Children love to learn, especially if it is through doing. Science is a very important aspect of our life so teaching children science is important. Taking a walk with your child is a very good way to teach them about science and nature. Stop and look at the animals building their homes or the frogs changing from tadpoles to frogs.

The more interesting and exciting you make learning the more they will retain. The live butterfly garden is one of my favorite ways to teach children about nature and science.

A live butterfly garden can open up a whole new world to children. They can watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly and then set it free.

I have a friend who every year in the early spring she buys her nieces a butterfly garden so they can watch them grow. About three days after the butterflies emerge, they all get together and all set the butterflies free. (more…)

Summer is on the way, it will be here before you know it. One of the greatest things you can do with your kids is to plant a garden, but you must beware or you may be buying new kids bedding. Be prepared to have some dirty kids. Be on the watch for your kids bedding, because it may be in danger. Most parents understand that kids are fascinated by digging in the dirt. Your kids will have to take their baths before going to their rooms to play.

This can be a delightfully happy time for both the parents and the children. Of course, like most things in this world gardening can be complicated. What kind of a garden do you want to plant? There are vegetable, herb or flower gardens, or maybe you will make a combination of one or more of these choices. If you do not have enough room to make a garden or your landlord won’t permit you to dig up the ground, you can still have your garden in pots, consider planting cherry tomatoes and basil in pots. Another way is to participle in a local farm co-op. Participants receive fresh vegetables in exchange for volunteering for a few hours on the farm each month. Whatever you choose, you do need a plan. (more…)

Many kids look upon gardening as being difficult and demanding. Initially, they may be hesitant and wary of trying it, fearing disillusionment. To sweet-talk kids to look upon gardening as an amusing and enjoyable activity, you need to create an environment that will give rise to some unforgettable moments. Before long, they will be confidently digging up the mud and thinking of growing a number of exotic vegetable that even we find not that easy to grow. To bring about this marvelous change, the children need to be presented with gardening supplies, which are cool, informational, and simple.

Kids Toolkit of Gardening Supplies should contain the following:   (more…)

We love our children and we want to teach them to value the things that are important to us. These things include morals, integrity, ingenuity, and an appreciation for the things in life that we consider beautiful and worth expending our energy, time, and effort in order to create. One of those things that many of us love sharing with our children is our love of gardening. Whether you are creating a spectacular garden worthy of acclaim, fame, and blue ribbons everywhere or a simple garden that will hold pretty flowers and a few favorite vegetables there are many lessons that your children can learn from working the earth by your side.The first, and perhaps best, lesson that most children learn when working in the garden is that life works in cycles. This is an important lesson for children, as it is a lesson that will be repeated often throughout the course of their lives. Of course this is only one of the many lessons that gardening will teach but gardening is one of the kindest ways I’ve ever seen this particular lesson learned and it helps ease children into those times when lessons about the cycle of life are not so kindly or gently presented. (more…)

Back when I was just a young kid, around the age of 5 or 6, I remember being out in the back yard with my dad as he turned over the soil, buried his food waste (which I later learned was a great way to add nutrients to the soil), and got the ground ready for the upcoming gardening season. It was a ritual that compares to professional athletes training for an upcoming season. My dad took it that seriously.

Little did I know then that the lessons he would teach about gardening would stay with me to this day. In fact I have adopted the same getting ready ritual that he had. My dad has since stopped his gardening practice for health related reasons, but I feel that I carry on that tradition that he learned from his father (my grandfather).

By watching my dad, listening to what he had to say, I learned a variety of things about gardening, that you just won’t learn in a high school classroom (at least in NJ anyway). (more…)

Many kids look upon gardening as being difficult and demanding. Initially, they may be hesitant and wary of trying it, fearing disillusionment. To sweet-talk kids to look upon gardening as an amusing and enjoyable activity, you need to create an environment that will give rise to some unforgettable moments. Before long, they will be confidently digging up the mud and thinking of growing a number of exotic vegetable that even we find not that easy to grow. To bring about this marvelous change, the children need to be presented with gardening supplies, which are cool, informational, and simple.

Kids Toolkit of Gardening Supplies should contain the following:

1. A children’s gardening book

2. A tiny hand spade for kids

3. A small watering can (more…)