Need ideas on how to teach a 4yo to garden

[Marisa6826]

I'm seriously out of practice when it comes to plantings. I've not done it for the past couple of summers. However, Sophie has been getting really interested in how things grow, sun, water, etc., etc.

I'm thinking that maybe I should start some sort of container planting (obviously, after the frost date).

What's easy? I don't want to spend a fortune. Should I do flowers? Veggies? Fruit? How long does it take for berries to grow?

Do I start from seeds or little plants? Catalogue, Home Depot or Garden Center?

Thanks!

-m

[miki]

For something really fast that will show her seed germination, you can grow your own sprouts--alfalfa sprouts, various beans--and use them in salad. They grow really fast and you can point out the part that is the root, the stem, etc. You can buy little sprouting kits but it's easy to do with a jar and a packet of seeds. Just google seed sprouting.

There are many easy flowers you can grow in a pot. Zinnias are good. If you let them go to seed, you can save them for next year. Compact tomatoes and peppers do well in containers. I tried a potted berry plant from the gooseberry family last year. It grew well but tasted awful. I think the good tasting berries will be the bush types and will take a number of seasons to fruit well. Our first year with blueberry bushes in the yard yielded a tiny handful.

HTH

[elliput]

I remember growing marigolds from seed in little pots when I was in second grade, so I would imagine that would be something good for a 4yo too.

I am actually going to try growing beans, peas and tomatoes this year. We have a trellis already up with a grapevine on half of it, so that is a good place for the beans and peas. The tomatoes, I am planning on growing in containers. And maybe some rosemary, basil, and oregano. Except for the tomatoes I will start everything from seed.

[danagee]

At my local Lowes, they've got the cutest little things for kids. It's a cup the size of a Dixie cup with a clear lid. They include instructions and seeds of easy-to-grow things. The seed I remember them having was sunflower and some other easy flower. I think sunflowers would be good also because the seeds are big enough for little fingers to grasp & plant.

I think berries would take quite a while because those types of plants have to mature about 2-3 years before they produce decent fruit.

I think flowers are fun. Easy ones to both start from seed and maintain as plants are: black-eyed-susan vines (thumbergia), marigolds, sunflowers, zinnias (very colorful for little kids), cosmos, shasta daisy. I've started all these that I mentioned myself from seeds already this month and they're getting too big!

Dana
ds 8/04 * dd 1/06

[KBecks]

I have similar questions, but not sure if I want to attempt gardening with a 2.5 year old this summer.

I've heard radishes are good b/c they grow fast -- I also think leaf lettuces would be good. Both of those grow from seed. Check carrots too.

Tomatoes here take forever.

I'd also suggest maybe herbs from containers. They're interesting and she can have new taste/smell experiences.

[dules]

Hi! Try the Cooksgarden.com, great stuff and they have info on children's gardens etc.

Sweet Peas are easy, as are Morning Glories (would be gorgeous along your front fence, and the kitchen railing). Nasturtiums are easy and you can eat the flowers. :)

Cutting mix lettuce is great in a long windowbox-type container, sow a row down each side and re-sow regularly to keep it coming. Snip into your salads at nighttime - yum.

Little S also adores cherry tomatoes grown in planters - Whole Foods usually has nice big ones for around $5/plant, and you don't need more than 1-2 plants.

Miss you!


Mary

[shilo]

you could get some bulbs that have already been 'forced' so they're all primed and ready to go in the ground right after the frost. http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gardening/article/0,1785,HGTV_3546_1399092,00.html

what about avacado pits? i remember doing this on the kitchen window sill in a jar as a kid. http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/seed/2002114535011263.html

also i remember sprouting beans in egg cartons on wet paper towel.
this site has some cute sprouting ideas if you scroll down the page: http://stepbystepcc.com/seeds.html
so does this one: http://www.preschooleducation.com/scgarden.shtml

and then there's always a chia pet :P

hth, lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[greatcanuk]

Hi,

I'm not a gardening person, but I too wanted to show my 3.5 year old about growing things. I found "Seedballz" in the Hearthsong catalog--these are 1 inch clay balls with 20-30 seeds inside and you lay them on top of the soil. They seriously sprout the next day, and grow amazingly quickly, plus everything is very visible. The balls are rolled by people with disabilities. The only drawback was that my DD wanted to bury the seedball deep in the ground, the way you do with regular seeds.

Great thread by the way.

Camille

[KBecks]

cha cha cha Chia!

Good retro item for the Easter basket!

how about Sea Monkeys too?

[brittone2]

along this line I saw a little sponge house project on family fun's website somewhere. It has a template to cut pieces of sponge to form a house, and then you sprinkle w/ grass seed, mist, and it makes a little house that looks like a hobbit could live in it ;)

We also have a great children's gardening book called Sunflower Houses:
http://www.amazon.com/Sunflower-Houses-Garden-Discoveries-Children/dp/1883010004

Logan's working on growing some seeds right now. We have lettuce and a few other things. Paper egg cartons are supposed to work well to start seeds and can be stuck directly in the ground (well, that's what I've read, we haven't gotten that far yet).

[Moneypenny]

Marigolds and sunflowers were the first things my mom taught me how to grow. We did both from seed. The good thing about them both is they seed out in the fall, so then we'd harvest the seeds, put them in a baggie to store for the winter, and plant those seeds the next spring.

Susan
mama to my cutie pie, Avery
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif[/img][/url]

[newnana]

FYI, according to the blueberry farm where we pick every year, it takes about 10 years to get a great blueberry bush. And there are 2 different main categories of blueberry bushes, those for baking (not as sweet off the bush) and those for eating. I don't know how accurate that is, but thought you might like to know.
Michelle

[teddy]

I saw this site mentioned in the newspaper yesterday but still have to check it out. Maybe it's promising?
http://www.kidsgardening.org/

Good luck! We're going to try a garden this spring also. Maybe vegetables or just happy flowers. Our site is right by the garage so who knows what the soil quality is like...

[Marisa6826]

Thanks for all the ideas. We ended up going to Lowe's to check out what they had.

We ended up getting seeds for:

Sunflowers
Mesclun
Morning Glories
Poppies


It's still kind of cold here (in the 40s at night), so I got one of those indoor greenhouse thingies with the little peat compartments. All you have to do is put the seeds in and water them.

I figure once it gets warmer, I'll get those Seedballz and maybe a couple of tomato plants.

Thanks again!

-m

[Java]

Ever since reading The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle DS (then 3yo, now 3.5yo) has been fascinated with planting and seeds. He's been pretending to grow stuff since September when we got the book.

We packed some potting soil in the clear Solo party cups and stuck some green bean seeds along the side so he can see it grow. We covered the cups with hole-poked plastic wrap to create a 'green house' effect and let him use a spray bottle to water the seeds without drowning. The seeds sprouted in 3 days and by day 5 or 6 they were about 1-2 inches tall, pushing their way out of the plastic wrap and grew leaves. DH and I are convinced we either got Jack's magic beans or the seeds are on steroids. They were the fastest growing seeds I've ever seen.

We then bought a cheap planter box and transplanted the seeds. DS is now watering his 'magic beans' with a watering can every other day and we can expect a harvest of green beans in about a month. It was a pretty cool process: he got to see the roots grow down into the dirt and the plant creep up and poke through the surface and then sprouting leaves. Then the transplanting - we handled that but he did help gently loosen the cup to take the seedlings out - showed him how the tiny seed grows into a plant that required more space. I can't WAIT to harvest the beans. He's going to be so excited. I wish we had space in the yard to do a small vegetable patch.

We picked beans bc the seeds were large enough for him to handle and the germination period was just 30-45 days.