First Garden With Kids

Kids Planting Seeds by Debi Huang

Today’s guest post is by Debi Huang of Go Explore Nature.

If you had told me eight months ago that I’d have a garden this spring, I’d have thought you were crazy. I’ve never successfully grown anything out of the ground – except those radishes back in junior high, but I had help with that.

And yet here I am, writing a post about my first experience with the garden my kids and I have started together.

I owe Alison here at Loving Nature’s Garden thanks. It was her Step-by-Step Gardening Club that gave me the confidence I needed to finally go for it. I feel now that we’re friends. Before that I was bogged down by gardening information overload, unsure of which way to go and too afraid of failing to try anything.

Kids Watering Garden by Debi Huang

Getting Started Gardening

Along with help from my 5-½ year old son (aka the Big Explorer), I chose kid-friendly plant seeds – sunflowers, carrots, radishes and tomatoes. The thought was that these were easy to grow and should make an appearance quick enough to keep the kids interested.

Planting itself was of course half, if not more, of the fun. Both my Big Explorer and the little one (2 years old) accompanied me to the nursery. We picked seed packets for the sunflowers, carrots and radishes and two different types of tomato plants.

We opted to plant in containers, not for lack of space but for lack of experience. This was a key decision because we’re watching and learning which items do best in which parts of the backyard. I’ve already moved some of the containers around to adjust for sunlight, so I’m thankful to have had the flexibility.

The kids were almost too eager to help me fill each of the containers with the organic potting soil we purchased. What kid doesn’t love playing in dirt? All but the carrot seeds were simple enough to plant. Carrot seeds are so small that I’m convinced we planted a dozen in each spot reserved for only one!

Kids Growing Sunflowers by Debi Huang

Garden Progress Report

It’s been about a month since we planted and so far, so good. The sunflowers are looking great. All four we planted are now making their way out of the soil. What excitement and pride we all felt to see our first sprout! There are a few carrot and radish greens poking out of the dirt, too, giving us hope that the others we planted will soon appear.

Best of all, our tomato plants are producing buds! When we first spotted them, Big Explorer explained the tomato’s lifecycle to me so I would understand how long it might be before we see tomatoes. Too cute!

Tomato on Plant by Debi Huang

Gardening Lessons Learned

It’ll come as no surprise to those of you with more seasoned green thumbs that I’ve learned a ton about gardening already. Like just how much water a garden needs! This explains why so many past attempts at growing flowers have failed; I’ve planted and forgotten them; somehow I thought they’d just care for themselves.

I’ve also realized that a garden needs nurturing. Big Explorer has this one covered. He excitedly looks in on the progress of the garden daily. He checks to see if it needs watering and is eager to pass on his observations of new growth, bug-eaten leaves, ladybugs and the like. His enthusiasm is contagious, making it that much easier for me to care for the space, too.

I’ll be honest, folks. I’m hooked on gardening. I’m already dreaming of next year’s adventures and we haven’t even enjoyed the bounty from this one! There will be new things to plant, seedlings to start in the winter, so we’ll have a jump on things come spring, and learning a way to make regular watering a little easier.

I know there are all kinds of things left to learn. But instead of being overwhelmed by all I don’t know, I’m digging in and learning as we go. The kids are my reminder that there’s no such thing as failure. We’re just trying new things to see what works. And that’s much more fun! Thanks Alison for getting me started.

Debi Huang is a Los Angeles-based wife, mom and adventure guide for two young boys. Her blog at Go Explore Nature is all about getting kids and families outdoors and connected to nature. You can follow her on Twitter @goexplorenature and Go Explore Nature on Facebook.

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