My children love to help in my vegetable garden.  They find every part of gardening fun.  Working the soil in the spring is especially appealing to my children.  Any excuse to get down and dirty makes them happy.  They enjoy helping plan where all the vegetables will be planted and setting up all the rows.  They even enjoy sprinkling the seeds.  They care for them all summer long, watering when needed, pulling weeds, and of course enjoying the vegetables as they become ripe.  Gardening is such a great educational family friendly topic, families should learn to embrace it and show children how they too can help feed their own families.

This is the time of year to start planning a vegetable garden, be sure to involve your children.  Let them help pick out the vegetables, figure out how much space they need and allow them to be creative with the space.  Don’t want to share your garden?  Let them plan a small garden of their own.  I mean really, what fun could raising vegetables be? Remember, it is full of their favorite things, like dirt, worms, stones, seeds, digging, fresh air, responsibility, science, reading, pride. With a garden, imagination becomes your most valuable crop.

Never gardened before?  You don’t need much to get started.  Things to keep in mind are a yardstick, shovel, tarp, rake, trowel, water, compost, wooden stakes and the seeds.  Favorite vegetables of children include carrots, cherry tomato plants, green beans, peas, and more.

Step 1 is the cold weather step.  Sit down with your child and sketch out the garden together.  Figure out how big to make the garden, read the seed packets to determine how much space the vegetables need to grow and prosper.  Discuss with your child what and where to plant the vegetables.

Step 2 is for when the snow and frost leave the ground. Dress in old clothes and get ready to get dirty.  Don’t forget to wear a hat and sunscreen.  Use your sketch, yardstick, stakes and string to map out the plot with your children.  Lay your yardstick out and stake the ends of your garden, keep working till you have all four sides marked.  Use the string to mark the edge of your garden.

Now it is time to dig!  Your child can use a child’s size shovel to help you dig out the square to a depth of about one foot.  Lay the tarp out and put all the dirt from the garden spot onto the tarp.  Have the children dig through this dirt looking for worms and removing the stones or other debris they may find.  The soil needs to be as clean as possible

After the garden spot is dug down, help your children break up the dirt.  Place the soil back onto the hole and add some compost to make the soil richer.  Mix well.  Rake the soil over and smooth it out. Remember to have your child do as much of the work as possible.

Step 3 is for planting the garden.  Use the trowel or the rake handle to create rows that are about ¾ inch deep.  Open the first packet of seeds and sprinkle them across the row by hand.  Try to space the seeds out about and inch apart.  Gently fill these holes with dirt, there is no need to pack it down.

Move onto the next row.  If using more seeds, then do as above.  When planting pre-started plants such as tomatoes or peppers, then dig evenly spaced holes in the garden with the trowel.  Place the plant into the hole, and cover the roots with dirt.  Tomato plants grow best if stacked up.  You can either purchase tomato stands that go around the plant or you can use wooden stakes and string to keep the tomato plants from falling over.

Once the garden is planted, then you should water.  Spray the seeds with a fine mist, just dampening the ground.  The plants can take a bit more water, but try not to over soak the garden.  Water lightly every day and in about two weeks you should see the first seedlings.

You could make a scarecrow for the garden or even a rain gauge.  Children might find it interesting to keep track of how tall the plants are growing, and when they have watered or fertilized them.

Step 4 is caring for the garden.  Over the course of the summer, you must remember to water and fertilize the garden on a regular basis.  The children can go in and pull weeds to keep all the nutrients headed to the vegetables.  Gardening is not just about getting it started, you do need to care for it all summer long.

Step 5 is the harvest.  Harvesting vegetables is very rewarding.  As the carrots grow, my children enjoy picking one, washing it off and eating it as a snack.  They also enjoy fresh peas, green beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  Fresh from the garden salads are a favorite summer and fall treat here.  Enjoy the harvest and if you have plenty, consider freezing or canning some for the cold weather months.

Don’t forget to take pictures of your child through the different stages of the garden.  They will enjoy looking back at these while enjoying the “fruit of their labor”!