I started gardening when some of my kids were fairly young. The youngest was in kindergarten, but the oldest was already a freshman in high school. But, my mom had my brother and I in the garden when we were still in preschool. In fact, that cover photo for this episode is my brother and I in our backyard garden in Colorado. I don’t remember a whole lot of specific things about being in the garden, but I do remember snippets. The joy of pulling something whole and edible from the dirt, the fun of being in the sunshine and getting dirty with mom’s approval to get dirty, and the satisfaction of eating something I could say I grew – even if I didn’t really do much of the actual work of growing it. Sitting on my back porch, dipping rhubarb in a bowl of sugar and munching on the sweet and sour snack is a very vivid memory and that rhubarb came from the plants in our garden. I feel so strongly that everyone should grow a little bit of something for themselves, and I feel just as strongly about children getting into the garden. But, like with everything, it can be difficult to get children engaged and keep them involved, especially when so many other things are vying for their very short attention spans. And even though I didn’t get started as young with my own kids, I’ve helped many customers plan garden spaces for their own kids and my grandkids are starting to learn now, too. Today I’m going to walk you through some tips for how to plan out a vegetable garden specifically for young children, what plants to include or not include, and some advice about how to keep them coming back for more garden time with the parents or grandparents. Let’s dig in.

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Resources:

In the Vegetable Garden: My Nature Sticker Activity Book

11 of the Best Gardening-Themed Books for Children

David’s Garden Seeds Lettuce Butterhead Little Gem

David’s Garden Seeds Carrot Parisian

‘Tiny Tim’ Dwarf Tomato

Burpee ‘Sweet Hearts of the Patio’ Cherry Tomato

Johnny’s Selected Seeds: Mini Head Lettuces