By Caroline Lewis of Verdura Culinary Gardens
One of the main goals many parents who contact us about setting up a garden is to teach their kids about where their food comes from. Feeding their children nutritious organic produce is also important to them, as is the possibility of educating young palates to enjoy a wider variety of vegetables.
A backyard garden offers numerous opportunities to teach kids valuable lessons. In our experience, even young children can participate in planting and maintaining a garden, and take a great deal of pride in growing their own food. They are often more willing to taste something they grew themselves, even if it’s an unfamiliar vegetable.
Using square foot gardening techniques, as we do here at Verdura, introduces math to the mix, particularly for younger children. Want to grow lettuces, shown here in a four square foot area? They’re planted four per square. Carrots and radishes are sown 16 per square foot, onions and beets are nine, and green beans and bush peas, four.
Older kids can learn some great lessons about accountability if you put them in charge of some aspect of the garden, watering, pest control or weeding, for example. Successful vegetable gardens require care and attention, and neglecting them will quickly impact plants’ health and productivity. On the positive side, a bumper crop of prized carrots or beans become their own reward for staying on task throughout the season.
You can introduce chemistry lessons in as well by purchasing an inexpensive pH test kit at a local garden center. These allow you to test for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as well as soil pH. They’re pretty fun to use, too.
Biology comes into play in identifying various insects, understanding which are beneficial and how to minimize the impact of those that are not.
Possibly most important of all is the opportunity to plan dinner based on what was just picked, teaching kids of any age the importance of seasonal eating as well as creative cooking.
ABOUT:
If you need help getting a garden started, Verdura Culinary Gardens installs easy-to-care-for raised beds for families. They also provide year-round planting plans, onsite garden coaching for the entire family, and help with garden maintenance. Happy gardening to you!
