When we moved into our new house I knew that I wanted to have a garden. So in the early spring my husband built me a raised bed. I bought some plants that we planted right into the bed, but the rest we grew from seed. Of course with both I asked S to help me.
For the seeds, we used peat moss pods with a faux green house that we picked up from Home Depot. S put all the pods in the green house for me. I filled the tray with water and once the pods grew, S loosened the dirt and added the seeds.
Every day we checked on the growth of our seeds. S always wanted to see how much the seeds had grown and what they looked like. When it was time to move the seeds to our garden, S helped me with transplanting them.
Now every evening after dinner we go and check on the garden. We see which plants are growing, which have flowers on them that will turn into a fruit or vegetable, and which are ready to be picked. S loves to smell the herbs especially the mint!
I love to see how excited S gets at seeing fruit ready to be picked or a new flower on a plant. There is nothing better than eating fresh picked fruit/vegetables. As an added bonus she is more willing to try food that she grew in the garden than if it came from the grocery store.
I let S help me as much as possible with activities, even if she makes a big mess, because I want her to learn and be exposed to different things. Gardening allows your child to touch the soil, seeds, and plants. It also teaches your child a variety of life lessons, my favorite: how plants grow, how to be patient, and how to nurture.
Do you garden with your children? What are your favorite fruits and vegetables to grow?
Oh i cant wait to move into a bigger place! I have never been one for gardening but I have had a change of heart since moving to Texas.
Oh my we just started a little garden and I hope our tomatoes turn out as good as yours! My 2 year old loves to help…. The older ones.. not so much!
My 2 year old loves to be in the garden! I think he ate more tomatoes than anyone last year, straight off the vine! He also loves smelling and tasting the herbs, especially the rosemary and parsley.
We made the 2 liter bottle planter a couple weeks ago for the kids to use. They can grow carrots and flowers and see through as they are growing. http://aimlessmoments.blogspot.com/2014/04/2-liter-planters-pinterest.html
Bernadette, that looks like a great project!
I should try this! Making him plant veggies and fruits so that my son will be more willing to try them. Thanks for sharing your fun day #countrykids
There are so many wonderful life lessons to be learnt from growing your own and a great sensory experience too! Garden to table inspires children to taste what they have laboured for and hopefully increase their food range too. Thanks for linking up and sharing your lovely photos with Country Kids.
Yes…definitely planning to try some gardening with our three-year-olds this spring. We started some seeds inside, and they’ve been excited to watch them sprout. Hoping to grow some beans, tomatoes, and maybe try some peppers. Oh! And basil. 🙂
Holli, sounds like a great list of vegetables to grow!
Love this. I pinned it for later. 🙂
Thanks Betsy!
I love gardening with my little ones too! They love smelling thyme especially and started eating tomatoes last year for the first time after we grew them, children are definitely willing to try more when you grow it at home. jealous of the raised bed!
Thank you Lisa. I am trying to get my husband to build me a second raised bed 🙂
Glad your daughter is excited about it. I just wrote about how mine reacts to gardening. Not quite the same. 🙂 I love your point about how gardening teaches patience and nurturing. I think we all hope our children will embody that eventually. Good job and love your pics!
I love my children to be gardening with me. I love showing them how plants grow from seeds and you can eat the fruit and veg you grow.
My two love helping out in the garden too, their favourites are always tomatoes..although we’re trying some new things this year too x
Shay, we are going to try pumpkins again this year for some reason they didn’t go beyond getting flowers last year – fingers crossed.
this looks like super fun 🙂
thanks for linking up with #MagicMoments
Awesome post! Featuring at Family Fun Friday and Pinned.
🙂
Monica
http://www.happyandblessedhome.com/2014/04/family-fun-friday-week-66-cherishing-childhood.html
Thank you Monica!
We are so late getting our garden started this year. Both of our girls got watering cans as Easter gifts this year, in the hopes that they would enjoy helping out with the garden…whenever it gets started. Love your philosophy on this too. I’ve also found that my kids are more willing to eat the veggies we grew.
This winter was really long-I didn’t think I’d ever get to plant! I am sure your girls will love to help!
Sharing my love of gardening with my two year old son is so fulfilling for both of us. He loves planting the seeds and watering them. Best of all, he loves digging in the dirt! It also encourages him to eat more vegetables because he gets so excited about what we’ve grown.
Digging in the dirt is always so much fun!
Gardening just makes us feel good. The snow finally melted here so we’re gearing up for our garden right now. Thanks for the reminder to get moving!
I hope you have a wonderful garden this year Terra!
Mine have loved to garden since they were little and my niece was my last little helper she loved checking for strawberries and going on a slug hunt 🙂 Get them interested while they are young and it will stay with them forever.
Great advice Amberjane, thanks for stopping by!
I’m not very green fingered myself but I definitely want to get out in the garden with my kiddos and teach them how things grow. I’ve pinned this to my Tot School board to remind me. #supermommyclub
Thank you Clare, I’m sure they will love gardening!
Love gardening with my 2.5 yr old! Most of the time… Lol.
Last year the strawberries were his favorite and he’d wander into the garden frequently to help himself.
Strawberries are a big favorite here!
Stopping over from SITS….I wish I was a gardner…I do love fresh picked fruit and veggies…and it is true the kid will eat it more if she grows it…I however can kill a plant just by looking at it wrong…it has not stopped me from trying and our church has a childrens veggie garden.. They get excited over the tomatoes and OH MY even eat them by the handful! YAY for gardening….with others…lol
My daughter loves to pick the tomatoes….she loves the smell 🙂 Thank you for stopping by!
My son loves to help in the garden, but I still can’t get him to try what we’ve grown. It’s good you are developing a love of gardening in her early.
Maybe he’ll try something soon! Thank you for visiting!
I love this. I need to loosen up and let my 2 1/2 year old do more “messy” things. she loves helping me 🙂 Thanks for sharing this!
Sometimes it’s so hard to let children do messy things! Thank you for stopping by.
Really enjoy seeing kids know where their food is coming from! Good to start this as early as possible.
Thank you for stopping by Deborah!
So glad I discovered your blog (found you via SITs). What was meant to be a ‘quick’ browse has turned into 20 minutes of going through your posts… and I’m not stopping just yet! LOVE this post and have pinned it for future reference – what a great idea to teach children to nurture, have patience and to encourage them to eat their veggies!
You are so sweet Chereen, totally made my day! Thank you for visiting and I hope you stop by again soon.
Awwww she looks like she is gavin so much fun! Food tastes better when you grow it 🙂
It does Jessica!!!
My son is really into gardening at the moment, although that might just be because he likes playing with dirt 😉 #parentingpinitparty
Dirt and water are definitely the most fun to play with! Thanks for stopping by Kate.
This is such a great idea! Last night I let Florence plant a few strawberry seeds in discarded glass jars – she LOVED scooping the dirt into the jars. I’m going to see about getting her more seeds today.
That’s awesome! She will love when the seeds start sprouting!
Great post! I promise you that my love of gardening came from when I used to garden with my mom when I was a toddler! Thanks so much for taking the time to link up with us over at the #HomeMattersParty – we hope to see you again on Friday!
That’s awesome Kristen! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Mine all loved helping in the garden when they were little, especially growing things like strawberries that they could pick and eat straight away. Now they are all teenagers they are spectacularly disinterested! Maybe in a few years they will come around and ask me for tools, seeds, cuttings and advice….(fingers crossed)
Strawberries and blueberries are my daughter’s favorite for that very reason! I have confidence that your children will love to garden again in the future!
What a neat idea to get the kiddos involved! Love this idea! Thanks so much for linking up to Good Tips Tuesday! This is going to be one of our featured posts! 🙂
Thank you so much Marlene!