Spring into Gardening with Kids by Abram Herman

These young gardeners proudly display their tasty produce from the Hotchkiss K8 summer garden club (left: Ava Caldwell, Avery Flores, Anja Ullman, Whittier Ullman). (Photo credit: Angela Flores)

Getting kids involved in growing their own food can be fun for both of you! What better way to teach kids about where their food comes from and the importance of healthy and local foods than growing your own at home? Watering, weeding, and caring for living things also teaches kids an important sense of personal responsibility, as well as patience.
 
Involve your kids in the entire process—start your garden planning early, and allow them to make the decisions (with a little guidance) so they feel ownership of the project. What kind of vegetables do they want to grow and eventually eat? If you’re using pots, help them research what size of pots those plants will need, and where in your yard to put them so they have the kind of sun or shade conditions they need to thrive. How often do you need to water, and whose responsibility will it be to make sure they’re getting enough water? How will you tell when they’re ready to eat? And, perhaps most importantly, let them plan out what you’re going to cook with each vegetable when they’re ready!
 
There are many ways you can involve kids in garden planning and care, and they’ll learn a lot in the process. Here are a few quick and easy ways you and your kids can get started with a backyard garden.
 
Building a garden bed can be time consuming, and it takes up a lot of space. If you’re not ready to take the leap to a full-on garden bed, potted plants can work well, too. There are a lot of vegetables that will grow in pots including tomatoes, beets, leafy greens like chard and kale, hot or sweet peppers, lettuces, onions, and even beans (as long as you have something for them to climb on).
 
Just make sure the pots you use are big enough for the plants you want to grow—tomatoes, for instance, will need at least an 18-24” pot—and use a high quality potting soil that’s made for vegetables, so they’re getting all the nutrients they need. Sun-loving vegetables like tomatoes and peppers should be in a bright, sunny place, but make sure more delicate plants like lettuces and spinach have a little bit of shade to provide relief from the heat.
 
Another easy way to bring the garden into your kitchen is with herbs. Not only will your kids get to participate in the growing process, but planning the meals you’ll make becomes even more fun! One idea is to start with some of your kids’ favorite foods, and ask them to help you research what herbs they’ll need to make it. Do they love lasagne or pizza? Oregano is critical to the Italian flavor. Are they big on pesto? Basil can be your crop of choice. Start with the final product, and work backwards to help them figure out what ingredient you’ll need to make it happen.
 
Herbs are also great because almost all of them will thrive in small pots, which are convenient and can usually be grown indoors. You could do a number of different herbs—thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, etc.—or just stick to one that requires a larger quantity, such as basil to be used in a batch of pesto. In addition, many of these herbs can continue to be grown in their pots indoors year round, providing fresh additions to your daily cooking beyond the normal summer garden. Your kids can help pick out or decorate fun pots, fill them with soil, start seeds or transplant already-started herbs, and pick out the spot where the plants will be happiest as they grow.
 
Another good option to start with is lettuce. Lettuces thrive in cooler temps, like the early spring season or in the fall, and they’ll provide a continuing source of salads for your dining room table. They are easy to start from seeds, and there are many interesting and colorful varieties to choose from. Salad greens are a perfect farm to table connection—clip off some lettuce leaves, whip up a quick vinaigrette, and combine them into a fresh salad in less than 5 minutes.
 
Lettuces have fairly shallow roots, so you can get away with a long and low container to house your whole lettuce garden. Have your kids help you pick out a variety of colorful and unique lettuces from the seed pack selection at your local nursery, fill your container with high quality soil, and plant rows of various lettuces to create a beautiful and tasty little crop of salad greens.
 
Many businesses have stacks of pallets that they’re happy to get rid of—with a quick search on Craigslist you’ll be able to find a plethora of pallets, ripe for the picking. These pallets can be repurposed into a fun and economical vertical or horizontal garden with just a little work. This is a really neat way to create a space-saving and beautiful garden for a small backyard. 
 
There are hundreds of how-to guides for making a pallet garden that you can find online with a quick online search, but the basic process involves stapling landscape fabric inside the pallet to create multiple vertical rows for planting your vegetable garden. The main thing to be careful of in general, but especially with kids, is that pallets can have sharp nails and splinters, so be very conscious of that when you’re picking out pallets and building your garden.
 
You can get your kids involved filling it with soil and planting all of the vegetables, or even a sweet treat like strawberries. You and your kids can also make an art project out of decorating the pallets with a bit of paint and creativity, to make a beautiful home for your small garden!
 
With these simple ways to get a garden started with your kids, you’ll be able to teach them about their food and where it comes from, involve them in research and planning, and cultivate responsibility and patience. Have fun, and enjoy the fruits (or vegetables) of your labor!