American grown : the story of the White House kitchen garden and gardens across America by Obama Michelle 1964-

Author:Obama, Michelle, 1964-
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Kitchen gardens, Gardening, Food habits
ISBN: 0307956032
Publisher: New York : Crown Publishers
Published: 2012-01-05T16:00:00+00:00

Engaging Our Children in Our Gardens: How to Build a Children’s Garden Thoughts from Jim Adams, National Park Service Supervisory Horticulturist

Growing a children’s garden—a garden planted and harvested by, and for, children—is a great way to get kids involved in, and excited about, gardening.

Designing the Garden

ENGAGE THEIR SENSES

■V Start with groupings of herbs, from basil to lemon verbena, which can highlight smell.

Use plants of varying sizes with different textures, which can entice children to touch. Children notice the difference between the thin vine of a pea and the slightly wavy shell of a snow pea pod or between the fragile skin of a tomato and the thicker skin of an eggplant.

MAKE IT EXCITING

Flowers, especially dramatic ones like sunflowers, are a great addition. Although they take up a lot of room, sunflowers can grow from a single seed to a two-foot-tall plant in a month, and they produce edible seeds that children can taste for themselves.

MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE

Create clearly designed paths to allow children to walk through the garden or among the containers and boxes so they can encounter growing plants up close.

Start with small plots, which are more manageable for younger children than large spaces. A small plot can be weeded and watered more easily by little hands, and small spaces also encourage ownership. Use signs. Even simple pictures will allow younger children to understand what is growing in the garden. Signs can also mark children’s individual beds and plants so they can check on their progress throughout the season.

148 ■*> AMERICAN GROWN

Using the Garden

PLANTING

On planting day, it helps to have the seeds and seedlings laid out in advance close to where they will be planted, so children can focus on setting them into the prepared ground.

TENDING

c ^ As the garden grows, make chores like watering more fun by cutting off the bottom of a large plastic bottle and “planting” the neck in the ground beside the plants. Children can fill the bottle with water from a watering can to add moisture to the soil.

HARVESTING & TASTING

When it is time to harvest, some children love to eat as they pick, tasting pea pods, berries, or cherry tomatoes fresh from the vine. Consider planting a partial garden of finger foods to encourage tasting. After the harvest, try serving washed and thinly sliced raw foods with add-ons like a homemade light oil and vinegar dressing or yogurt- based ranch dressing for dipping.

•'4? Use easy recipes to involve kids in preparing the vegetables—they 11 often be willing to taste food they’ve helped prepare themselves.

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