When I was a young child, we had gardens where we would plant flowers and vegetables. I remember my childhood as the barefoot days since we would run barefoot in our large yard playing outside all day from sun up to sun down. There were no screens. Our souls were nurtured by being outside playing all day and watching things grow around us. A small pool, sandbox, a garden, a playset, and a tree fort were all we needed. We weren’t being rushed here or there.
We can bring these simpler times back to our children by gardening with them. Here are some simple ideas to get you started since I am still a beginner gardener.
- Get raised gardens for planting just a few vegetables. We put ours up in our back deck so animals would not get into them here even though bugs tried to get to them. We just started with two raised gardens from Coscos and then went from there. We only planted a few veggies, waited a few months, and then we had our onions, green beans, and carrots! I do think raised gardens are nice since you don’t have to bend too far, and I know I just keep getting more stiff as the years go on. Raised gardens are nice for those of you who want to try it out and not hurt your back! Please note that the soil for organic gardening beds is costly, so be prepared for this when you make your purchase. I didn’t take this into consideration.
2. This part was my favorite, but plant some new flowers together and watch them grow! I absolutely love hydrangeas, so we took many trips to the garden center to pick up various kinds of hydrangeas! We enjoyed planting these together and seeing them grow. I recommend lots of water for hydrangeas and some shade so they don’t get too much heat. This past summer was brutal with heat and not enough rain, so I had to be extra diligent in watering them. I’m hoping they will continue to do well. Continue to include your children in your gardening. Give them the chore of watering the flowers and taking care of the garden as well.
3. Lastly, I can’t say enough about hydroponic gardening for you and your family. I came (by accident) on an Aerogarden online on Amazon one day when looking through the latest new innovations. I put it in my Amazon cart and just left it there for a year. I kept thinking of getting one, and I was getting tired of salads that tasted gross. (wilted leaves, funny taste) I had my glowing green smoothie almost every day which I loved, but I wanted to each more fresh greens not in a smoothie.
I decided why not try it out! I ended up loving it so much that I now have 4 Aerogardens and 1 Gardyn. This has encouraged healthier eating for our family since we have 1 salad now a day! When I try salad from the store, I cringe as I taste the pesticides on it and the wilted leaves. It’s so much nicer to have fresh and tasty salads straight from these organic, pesticide-free, herbicide-free, fungicide-free, and non GMO plants. That’s a mouthful to write out, but now I know why I wasn’t enjoying my salads before! I love it fresh! I just snip away with my scissors and place it right on my plate to eat. My son is starting to enjoy getting his greens each day now, and he likes to watch all of them grow! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to enjoy salad from the store the same way now. I will be growing more arugula and strawberries in my next Gardyn harvest. I will post that in an upcoming article. I am very excited to see that since strawberries and arugula are my favorite combination! In time, I know my son will enjoy more fresh greens as we continue to provide him with healthier greens.
Continue gardening with your children. I’d love to hear about some gardening you are doing with your children!