Want to try something really different in your garden? Or just have limited space for a garden? Grow UP and plant a vertical garden.

Vertical gardens are easy to maintain, take up very little space, and they really look unique! The vertical garden can be used as a privacy fence, or a work of living art.

There are many clever ways to grow vertical – brainstorm ideas with your kids to see what they come up with! Here are two of our favorites.

Shoe Organizer Garden

What You Will Need:

• Over-the-door Canvas Shoe Organizer (the kind with pouches for shoes)


• Wood Closet Rod or Large Dowel


• Potting Soil


• Plants or Seeds (see the list below for some plant ideas)


• Water

What You Do:

• Attach a closet rod or large dowel to a shed, side of a garage, or wherever you want to hang your vertical garden. You can attach the rod using curtain rod hardware or other brackets found at a hardware store. (Make sure to hang the rod at a height that allows your shoe organizer to hang without touching the ground).


• Attach the shoe organizer to the rod using strong hooks or wire the organizer directly onto the rod. When the organizer is full of dirt and plants, it will be heavy, so make sure to secure the organizer to the rod very well.


• Use a nail to poke small holes into the bottoms of each pocket – this will allow the water to drain properly. One or two holes should be sufficient.


• Fill each pocket with potting soil so that the soil is about an inch below the top of the pocket.


• Add your plants to the pockets, and pack the soil lightly around the plants. If you are using seed, place 3 or more seeds in each pocket – depending on the plant.


• When it is time to water your plants, slowly add water to each pocket, starting at the pockets at the top. Make sure not to add water too quickly, or the pressure from the water may wash out the plants and soil from the pockets.


• Water daily as needed and watch your garden grow!

Variations:

• To avoid having the shoe organizer hang directly against your shed or garage, attach empty plastic pots to the backside of the organizer to act as a spacer. You can use the plastic pots from the plants you used for your vertical garden! Just attach them to the organizer using zip-ties or twine through small holes punched into the organizer.


• If you want a privacy wall, build a wooden frame using 2×4 pre-treated lumber and cement the posts into the ground. When your frame is built, hang your vertical garden inside the frame. You may want to attach the bottom of the organizer to the frame as well – instant privacy fence!

Frame Garden

What You Will Need:

• Wood Frame (large or small)


• Bird Netting (sold at hardware stores)


• Twist Ties or Plant Twist Ties


• Sheet Moss (sold at garden centers)


• Succulent Plant Assortment


• Scissors

What You Do:

• To prepare your frame garden, find or make a wood frame in the size you want your vertical garden to be. For example, you could use a large wooden picture frame (say 3 feet x 4 feet) as the frame for your garden. If you want your frame garden to be larger, you can build a simple frame by screwing four 2×4 boards together at the corners.


• Lay your frame on a flat surface, such as a table or your driveway, then drape a layer of netting over the frame.


• Secure the netting to one side of your frame using twist ties, then pull the netting tight and secure the opposite site to the frame with twist ties.


• Use a scissors to trim away the excess netting.


• Dampen your sheet moss and wring out the excess water.


• Place the sheet moss on top of the netting. Repeat this step until all the netting is covered with sheet moss.


• Lay another layer of netting over the moss, and secure it in place with twist ties.


• Use a scissors to trim the excess netting.


• To add plants to your garden, twist a twist tie around the base of each plant, then poke the ends of the twist tie through the netting and twist to secure the plant in place. Note that large plants may need more than one twist tie to secure the plant to the garden.


• When all your plants are secured to the garden, it’s time to display your frame garden! Hang the garden on a wall, such as a shed or garage, or hang it on a fence. If the frame garden is very large, you could stake it into the ground or lean it against a wall or fence. (NOTE: You may want to leave your frame garden laying flat for about a week – this allows the plants to root into the moss easier).


• Make sure to keep your garden watered! When the moss feels dry, lightly spray the entire garden with water.

Vertical Gardening Plants

• Cucumbers


• Peas


• Cilantro


• Chives


• Swiss Chard


• Radishes


• Strawberries


• Succulents, like Hen and Chicks


• Sprenger asparagus ferns


• Aeoniums


• Bromeliads


• Marigolds


• Nasturtiums


• Pansies


• Violas

You May Also Like:

• TubTrugs – No gardener should be without a TubTrug! This handy bucket will last forever and makes gardening so much easier!


• 101 Kid-Friendly Plants – This book contains lots of great ideas for plants that are fun and easy for kids to grow. Check it out!


• Grow Your Own Lily Pad – The simple lotus seeds are fun and easy to grow. You supply the frogs!


• Gardener’s Color Wheel – This handy tool helps you choose coordinating colors for your garden! Lots of great plant ideas.


• Moss Milkshake – All you need is water to grow your own moss! A fun project for kids!


• Stone Soup Garden Kit – Grow a garden for stone soup! This kit contains everything you need, including story and activity cards. Fun for kids!


• Garden Game – Learn more about gardens and how plants grow with this fun and educational board game.

Copyright © 2007-2011 Escapade Direct LLC. All rights reserved. All content on this site is property of Escapade Direct LLC and may not be used without our written permission.

Whether you live in the country with lots of land or in the city with limited space, gardening with children is something everyone can enjoy! Children of all ages enjoy nurturing a garden to observe the miracles of regeneration and growth.

Gardening in wide open spaces, in containers, in small places, and in odd opportune places brings out the creative thinking process for children of all ages.

Go ahead – improvise your garden! Here are some ideas to get you started…

Odd-Spot Gardens

What is the oddest place you can think of to plant a few seeds? Where can you and your kids practice random acts of beauty? What drab place in your neighborhood or community could use a tiny touch of floral beauty or a patch of moss?

What You Do:

• Talk a walk with your kids around your neighborhood and around your city. Find that odd spot that could use a sunflower, a scattering of poppies, or a bit of portulaca.


• Scatter seeds, add a handful of fertilized soil and a bit of water, and watch your handiwork grow!

Oddest Container Contest

Have a contest within your family to see who can grow their flowers or plants in the oddest container. Be creative!

Odd Container Ideas:

• Old toys, such as wagons, dump trucks, or doll houses


• Old shoes or boots


• Odd kitchen containers


• An old worn-out suitcase


• An old lunch box


• A hub cap


• An old dresser drawer


• Old pie, cake, or muffin tins


• A paper or canvas bag

Ideas for Plants:

• Try planting succulents, such as Hens and Chicks – they can grow almost anywhere and in almost any condition.


• Petunias bloom all summer long and do very well in containers. They come in a large variety of colors and shapes, and can be placed in full sun or partial shade.


• Snapdragons are an intriguing flower and they grow well in containers. Make sure to show your kids how they “snap” their mouths once the flowers bloom!


• Plant vegetables! Tomatoes, peppers, brussels sprouts grow great in containers.

Additional Notes:

• When planting in containers, make sure the containers have good drainage and can hold an adequate amount of soil for the type of plant you are growing.


• Use a good potting soil to encourage growth in your container. Soil mixed with peat allows for excellent drainage and aeration.


• When growing vegetables in containers, make sure the container has not been exposed to toxic elements, as these toxins may leach into the plant and vegetables.


• Containers need more frequent watering the gardens planted in the ground. Make sure to keep the soil moist and rewater as needed (a good lesson in responsibility for kids). To make watering fun, use our Garden Pourer!


• To help containers retain moisture longer, place a few of our Slippery Spheres into the soil. These polymer spheres retain water for a long time, keeping the soil moist between waterings.

You May Also Like:

• TubTrugs – No gardener should be without a TubTrug! This handy bucket will last forever and makes gardening so much easier!


• 101 Kid-Friendly Plants – This book contains lots of great ideas for plants that are fun and easy for kids to grow. Check it out!


• Grow Your Own Lily Pad – The simple lotus seeds are fun and easy to grow. You supply the frogs!


• Gardener’s Color Wheel – This handy tool helps you choose coordinating colors for your garden! Lots of great plant ideas.

Copyright © 2007-2011 Escapade Direct LLC. All rights reserved. All content on this site is property of Escapade Direct LLC and may not be used without our written permission.

There is just something so sweet and so simple about seeing a wayward plant growing in a sidewalk crack. It makes you stop, look at the plant, and appreciate its efforts. Beautify your sidewalks and plant a Crack Garden!

Crack Gardens are so easy to maintain and they look great. Children of all ages enjoy looking for cracks to plant their gardens and are amazed when plants actually grow in such small, unlikely places.

What You Will Need:

• A Crack or Small Spot of Soil along a sidewalk or driveway


• Old Fork


• Plant Seeds (see list of suggestions below)


• Water

What You Do:

• Find a crack in a sidewalk or along side a driveway where you would like your plants to grow.


• Use a fork to loosen the soil within the crack.


• Use your fingernail or fork tines to make holes in the soil that are about 1/2 inch deep and 6 inches apart. (NOTE: Check the spacing requirements on the seed package).


• Carefully place one seed in each hole, then lightly cover the hole with soil.


• Water lightly.


• Within a few days, your crack garden will begin to grow! Water daily as needed.

Variations:

• If you have permission, plant a crack garden along a sidewalk in your neighborhood! Imagine the surprise that people who pass by will have when they see your beautiful plants growing in such an unlikely place!


• Depending on the plant you use and how much traffic your sidewalk gets, you may want to plant your flowers along the outside edges of the cracks.

Recommended Seeds for your Crack Garden:

• Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) – This plant is perfect for growing in cracks! It blooms all Summer long and into Fall.


• Moss Rose (Portulaca grandiflora) – This low-growing plant grows very well in sidewalk cracks. The flowers are a blend of reds, oranges, yellows, purples, and pinks.


• Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum) – This perennial plant is an evergreen succulent, and grows well within cracks. It’s a low-growing plant that is very interesting -kids especially love this plant.


• Nasturtium – This plant spreads on it’s own and fills cracks nicely. The flowers are very bright and colorful, and tasty, too! The flowers are very light, almost like tissue paper.


• Sedum ellacombianum – This is a great drought-proof ground cover that is perfect for cracks in a sidewalk. This perennial plant produces bright yellow flowers – excellent for honey bees!

You May Also Like:

• Moss Milkshake – All you need is water to grow your own moss! A fun project for kids!


• Stone Soup Garden Kit – Grow a garden for stone soup! This kit contains everything you need, including story and activity cards. Fun for kids!


• Garden Game – Learn more about gardens and how plants grow with this fun and educational board game.

Copyright © 2007-2011 Escapade Direct LLC. All rights reserved. All content on this site is property of Escapade Direct LLC and may not be used without our written permission.

Surprise your kids with a little garden magic, and grow magic beans!

While gardens outside are starting to grow, here are two easy and fun garden activities that you can do with your kids indoors. These activities are a great way for kids to learn more about plants and how they grow, and it’s also a great way to get kids to try new foods (but don’t tell them that)!

Grow Bean Sprouts in a Jar
Mung Beans are absolutely unique! They grow fast and seem to appear like magic! They taste great with many foods – as a matter of fact, they are the most widely consumed sprout on Earth.

What You Will Need:

• 1/2 cup Mung Beans (found at a health-food store, garden store, or seed store)


• 1 quart size Jar with Screw-Top Lid (a canning jar or jelly jar works well)


• Water


• Bowl

What You Do:

• Prepare a Sprout Jar by punching holes in the lid of your jar using a hammer and nail. Set prepared jar aside for now.


• Wash the seeds under running water to remove any soil.


• Place the rinsed seeds into a bowl and add enough cool water to the bowl to completely cover all the seeds. Make sure to mix the seeds up a bit to assure water comes in contact with all the seeds.


• Set the bowl aside and let the seeds soak for at least 8 to 10 hours.


• After the seeds have soaked, drain the water off the seeds. NOTE: Use this drained water to water other plants – it’s full of nutrients! Also note that mung beans will pale as they swell with water during soaking. Make sure the seeds have taken up all the water they need before draining.


• Place the drained seeds into the bottom of the glass sprout jar and screw on the lid.


• Place the jar somewhere out of direct sunlight – such as on a kitchen counter. This jar is where the sprouts will grow – make sure to check it often and watch the magic happen.


• For the next five days, rinse the beans two or three times a day in lukewarm water – we recommend rinsing the beans at breakfast, dinner, and before going to bed.


• In five days, the bean sprouts will be ready to eat! They taste great in salads or on sandwiches.


• Make sure to drain your sprouts as thoroughly as possible after the last rinse. You can store the sprouts in the refrigerator when they are dry to the touch.

Variations:

• If you want to grow short mung sprouts, rinse and drain the beans every 8 to 12 hours for two to three days. To grow larger mung sprouts, rinse and drain the beans every 8 to 12 hours for four to six days. Taste the mung sprouts at every rinse/drain to see what taste you like best.


• When you rinse the beans, try not to disturb the seeds/sprouts. The sprouts will form a mass and you want them to stay together.

Grow a Cress Garden on a Dish
Cress is full of flavor – almost spicy in a way. It’s easy to grow and has very unique leaves, making it an attractive plant for a windowsill.

What You Will Need:

• 2 Plates


• Paper Towel


• 1 pack of Cress Seeds
• Water

What You Do:

• Place a paper towel on a plate, such as a dinner plate.


• Wet the paper towel well with water.


• Sprinkle the cress seeds onto the wet paper towel, spreading the seeds evenly.


• Cover the seeds with a second plate, turned upside down.


• Set the plate aside and check every day to make sure the paper towel is still moist – moisten as needed.


• The cress will start to grow after about three days. When the cress is about 1/2 inch high, remove the top plate and place the cress garden in a sunny window.


• Make sure to keep the paper towel moist, but not soggy. We prefer using a spray bottle to mist the paper towel. If watering directly by pouring water, make sure to pour the water on the side of the plate to avoid injuring the tiny plants.


• When the cress is about 3 inches high, it’s time to take out your scissors and harvest your crop! Cut the cress sprouts in half, then use the cuttings on a sandwich or in a salad. Delicious!

Variations:

• Cress seeds can also be grown directly on moist soil or even a baby blanket in a tray! Virtually any medium that can retain moisture will work to grow cress.

Grow a Bean Teepee
Why not take what you’ve learned about beans outdoors and grow a bean teepee that you can play in?! Click Grow a Bean Teepee for our article on how to do this. Have fun!

You May Also Like:

• Magic Beans Fairy Tale Garden Kit – Fee-fi-fo-FUN! Imagine growing a bean stalk all the way to the sky! Kids will enjoy planting their very own bean stalk and watching it grow… and grow… and grow!


• Think Outside the Bean – Need a great way to have fun AND practice thinking skills? Play and learn about Mexican Jumping Beans with this unique activity book!


• DuAll Box – This box allows you to grow plants, watch pond creatures, insects, and more! It’s a great box to have on hand for learning adventures!

“Earth laughs in flowers.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Now is the perfect time of year for starting sunflowers in your garden. Children of all ages enjoy the anticipation of watching that first seedling appear, followed by the first sunflower!

Sunflowers (Helianthus) have a special appeal to children because they grow so quickly, and so tall. It’s hard for young children to realize that a flower can grow taller than they are – and they watch in amazement throughout the summer as their sunflowers grow to tower over them. It’s also fun for kids to watch as the sunflower face turns toward the sun throughout the day.

Sunflowers are easy to grow, and there are a large variety of sunflowers to choose from. Choose your favorite variety – then get planting today! Here’s how…

What You Will Need:

• Package of Sunflower Seeds (our favorite is the Russian Giant, which grows to a height of 12 feet with a 12 inch flower head)


• Think Tank or pot (we like using the clear Think Tanks because you can see the roots of the plants when they start to grow)


• Potting Soil


• Water

What You Do:

• Fill a Think Tank or pot with potting soil, then add water to just moisten the soil (be careful not to overwater).


• Let your kids poke their fingers into the soil to make a small hole, then drop a seed into the hole. Cover the seed with soil, then lightly mist the soil.


• Place the planter in a sunny location – either indoors or out.


• When the sunflower seeds begin to germinate and push out of the soil (usually in 8 to 14 days), watch them daily to chart their growth. Water as needed.


• When the sunflowers are large enough to be planted outdoors, choose a sunny place in your garden to transplant your flowers. An area that is out of the wind is ideal.


• To transplant your sunflowers, dig a hole in the garden that is larger than the root base of the seedlings. Make sure to handle the seedlings carefully to avoid damaging them and to avoid having the soil fall off their roots. Place the seedling roots into the hole and fill the hole with soil. Water gently. NOTE: You may also want to place a wooden stake near the plant to give it extra support until it grows stronger.


• Watch your plants daily and water as needed in order to keep the soil moist.


• Chart the growth of your sunflower each week to see how quickly it grows, and watch for that first flower! Most sunflowers reach maturity in about 80 days.

Variations:

• Sunflowers can be grown in containers and kept on your patio or deck! The “Sunspot” is a dwarf sunflower that is perfect for growing in containers. It grows to a height of 24 inches and has a 10 inch flower head.


• Want to grow a Sunflower Fort? Click this link for our how-to article!


• When selecting the type of sunflowers to grow, choose a range of colors – from the traditional bright yellow to orange and even lime green! A variety of heights will also add to the appeal of your sunflower garden (make sure to place the taller plants in the back of your garden to allow the smaller varieties to receive sunlight.)

Sunflower Seeds:

• Sunflowers make excellent natural bird feeders! Birds will enjoy the seeds from the sunflowers all summer long! Observe the birds that visit your natural feeder!


• If you would like to save the sunflower seeds as a tasty snack for yourself, you may want to cover the sunflower head with cheesecloth to protect the seeds from the birds. When the flower head starts to turn brown, cut the head off the stalk and hang it in a warm, dry place (away from insects and other pests). The cheesecloth over the flower head will catch the seeds as they fall. After several weeks of drying time, the seeds will fall out easily and are ready to be eaten raw or roasted!


• For more information about the sunflower, visit National Sunflower Association website. This website includes the history of the sunflower, uses for a sunflower, as well as a free “The Story of a Sunflower” coloring book for kids.

Extra Activities:
What?! There’s more?! Here are some additional ideas for enjoying your sunflowers…

• Once your flowers have started to bloom – name them! It’s so much fun calling your plant by name – they really seem to take on the personality of the name, and your kids will love doing this! Will there be a Vincent? Camille? Or even Shaggy? Be creative!


• Let your kids take pictures of their plant! Show them how to take close-up pictures, and pictures from a variety of angles. For example, have your kids lay on their backs and take a picture of their sunflowers as seen from the ground. Make sure to take pictures of your kids standing next to their sunflowers, too!


• Spend an hour sketching the sunflowers. Give each of your kids a Blank Book and some colored pencils and encourage them to draw what their sunflower looks like to them. The drawings don’t have to be perfect, let them improvise!


• Pick sunflowers and display them in a vase on your diningroom table! The flowers will last a long time and can be dried for seeds when they start to lose their luster.

“”More grows in the garden than the gardener sows.”
~ Old Spanish Proverb

Gardening with kids is an enjoyable activity! When children have the opportunity to create their own pots using recyclable material and plant their own seeds, they enjoy gardening even more!

This activity also allows children to observe nature up close, and to help recycle and make our world a better place. It’s a great lesson in patience, nurturing, and even science!

What You Will Need:

• Paper Pot Maker


• Newspapers or recyclable decorative papers (such as old music sheets, maps, or wrapping paper)


• Scissors (optional)


• Potting Soil


• Flower Seeds (Marigolds and Sunflowers are easy and quick to grow)


• Water

What You Do:

• Give your children old newspapers or other recyclable paper to rip or cut into approximately 3″ wide by 10″ long strips (the measurements don’t have to be exact).


• Wrap a strip of paper around the Paper Pot Maker, tuck in the bottom flaps, and twist onto the Pot Maker base to form a paper pot.


• Continue making paper pots until you have the number you need.


• Scoop potting soil into your paper pot and pack the soil lightly.


• Show your children how to poke a shallow hole into the potting soil with their finger to create a hole for the seeds, then add one seed per hole and put soil over seeds (follow flower seed planting directions for the type of flowers you are planting).


• Add a little bit of water, then set your pots in a sunny window and watch them grow!


• Encourage your kids to check their plants daily and water as needed (a Garden Pourer is a great tool for kids to use). You may even want to have them document the growth of their plants in a small blank book. Record the growth of the flowers, the date it blooms and how many flowers there are, keep track of watering, and create sketches along the way.


• When the plants are ready to be planted outside, help your kids find a suitable place to transplant their flowers, and then continue to watch them flourish!

Variations:

• Use a variety of colored papers to make your pots. The bright colors look great while you are waiting for your plants to grow!


• You may want to place your hand-made pots on a tray to avoid water spills.


• Host a Garden Party! Invite your children’s friends over and have all the kids make their own pots to take home.


• Have your kids make planted paper pots to use as gifts! Perfect for grandparents, neighbors, and party favors! This craft idea also makes great Mother’s Day gifts and May Day Baskets!

You May Also Like:

• Moss Milkshake – Grow your own moss and make a fairy garden! Click this link for more information.


• Plants Savings Set – Use this set to help your kids learn about plants and grow their own!


• Stone Soup – This kit contains everything you need to create a unique garden! Fun for kids of all ages!


• Jack’s Magic Beans – The Fairy Tale Garden Kits include everything you need to create a magical garden, even the story cards!


• Grow Your Own Apple Tree – Help your children grow their own fruit trees!


• Gardening Wizardry for Children – Learn the history of flowers and plants with this handy book!

Children of all ages enjoy growing strawberries!

The plants are easy to grow and the reward is like “berried” treasure!

Strawberry plants can be grown in a garden, in containers, or in hanging baskets. To make strawberry gardening managable for children, here are instructions to create a hanging basket strawberry patch!

Grow Strawberries

What You Will Need:

• 24 Strawberry Plants


• Large Wire-frame Hanging Basket (16″ diameter works very well)


• Potting Soil


• Sphagnum Moss (found at garden centers), or Coconut Fiber, or a specially designed basket liner


• Small Shovel or Old Spoon


• Water

What You Do:

• Line the wire-frame hanging basket with damp sphagnum moss, coconut fiber, or a specially designed basket liner.


• Plant 18 strawberry plants around the outside surface of the basket, roots first, through the sphagnum moss. Make sure plants are distributed evenly around the entire perimeter of the basket.


• Carefully fill the basket with potting soil. Children can use a small hand shovel or an old spoon to scoop the soil into the basket.


• Plant the remaining 6 strawberry plants into the soil in the top of the basket. Make sure not to bury the crown (the part where the green stem starts).


• Use the heel of your hand to press down the soil around the plants.


• Give your plants a good, long drink of water.


• Place your basket in a bright sunny place, such as a porch or patio. Strawberry plants need at least 6 hours of sun each day.


• Strawberries need to be watered daily. Make sure the soil does not dry out! Keep the soil moist, but not soggy.


• Shortly after planting, small white flowers will appear on the plants. Then about 21 days after the white flowers bloom, the berries will begin to appear. At first, the berries will be small and green, but will eventually ripen and turn red.


• When the berries are red, it’s time to pick them! To pick a berry, gently twist if off the stem – no need to pull.


• Wash carefully and enjoy your berried treasures!

Tips and Notes:

• In cool areas (zones 1 to 5), it’s best to plant strawberries in the spring. In warmer areas, you can grow strawberries all year ’round.


• Most garden centers have a variety of strawberry plants for you to choose from. For example, June-bearing and ever-bearing. June-bearing plants produce one crop of fruits in June; and ever-bearing plants produce fruits in June and continually throughout the year until the first frost. Choose the plants that will work best for your garden.


• Strawberry plants typically grow 6″ to 8″ tall, spreading out about one foot across with long runners. If you want more plants, let the runners grow. Or, pinch off the runners to get larger plants with small yields of big berries.


• For the first few weeks after planting your strawberries, remove all the blossoms on ever-bearing plants by either pinching or cutting them. This gives the plant time to establish itself before expending energy on growing fruit.


• If you don’t have a place for a hanging basket, follow the steps above, then place the basket on a pillar or post. This creates a beautiful planter for a patio!


• At the end of the growing season, move your hanging basket into a sheltered area covered with several inches of hay, or move it to a shed or basement that doesn’t freeze. In the spring, water your plants and they will be ready to grow again.

You May Also Like:

Gardening Set – Help your kids learn about plants while they grow their own. This savings set will help!

Jack’s Magic Beans Garden Kit – Fee-fi-fo-FUN! Imagine growing a bean stalk all the way to the sky!

Cinderella’s Magic Pumpkin Garden Kit – Imagine your fairy Godmother waving her magic wand and turning the pumpkin into a glittering coach…

Princess’s Pea Garden Kit – Imagine being so sensitive that you can be disurbed by a pea while you sleep!

Stone Soup Garden Kit – Kids and adults alike will enjoy growing each seed until they are ready to go into this amazing soup!

Copyright © 2007-2010 Escapade Direct LLC. All rights reserved. All content on this site is property of Escapade Direct LLC and may not be used without our written permission.

Want a really fun way to get your kids excited about gardening? Show them how to grow their own forts!

To help you get started, here are our favorite “green” forts to create:

Sunflower Forts – Children love to cultivate their fort and enjoy the unique shady retreat they have made. This is an easy project that can work in most backyards.

Garden Tunnel – In a sunny area of your garden, make a tunnel for kids to play in and for pumpkins to grown on!

Bean Teepee – Make a cool, leafy hiding place! Somewhere in your garden, create a fun hiding place for kids to keep cool in the Summer!

Fairy or Elf Garden – Create a mini-Fairy (or Elf) Garden just for kids! In the shelter of a large, shady tree, design a miniature world where fairies and elves will visit.

These fun garden forts are enjoyable for kids of all ages! Share your ideas by posting a comment below!

We’re posting gardening activities all month! Subscribe to our blog by clicking the icons in the upper-right corner of the screen so you don’t miss out!

Did You Know?

Most people think of the dandelion as a “worthless weed”, but did you know that every single part of a dandelion can be used? The leaves, the stems and flowers, and the roots! The leaves can be boiled and served as a vegetable, or used raw in salads and soups. The leaves are an important source of Vitamin A, and half a cup of them per day will satisfy a person’s vitamin A requirements. Sauteed, dandelion buds can be used in omlets; the petals in sandwiches; the stems and blossoms for making wine. Even the dandelion root can be roasted to become an imitation coffee. The sticky white milk that flows from the severed root contains latex, from which latex rubber can be made. The root also contains a substance that is used as a laxative. The dandelion is a versatile plant!

Visit our store for our Featured Gardening Products this month, and get your garden started!

Gardening with your children can be an enjoyable experience!

To help get your garden growing, we’ve created activities for you to use with your kids to help you enjoy a fun learning experience and memories of times spent together in your garden.

Grow memories. Grow gardens!

After planning your garden and choosing the plants you want to include, it’s time to start planting! Our Make a Beaded Planting Guide article shows you how to make a beaded planting guide that is fun to make, and makes planting kid-friendly!

Once the seeds are sowed, make sure to mark the plants in your garden so you can keep track of what’s growing where! Our Unique Plant Markers activity includes several creative ideas for marking the plants in your garden.

Make sure to keep an eye on our blog this month for more gardening ideas and fun activities!

Visit our store for our Featured Gardening Products this month, and get started on your gardens!

Gardening is relaxing, exciting, interesting… and educational!

With warmer weather upon us, now is a wonderful time to get outside and introduce your children to the many benefits of gardening. Children of all ages tune-in to the rhythms of nature when they plant their own garden. Gardening builds character through responsibility and patience. Children practice math skills as they measure distances, calculate and optimize area, and count seeds. They use science skills when they learn about life cycles, recycling, botany, agriculture – just to name a few. Language skills can be practiced by learning the Latin names of plants, and history can be explored by researching where plants originated and from discovering the historical uses for plants.

Here are some tips to make your gardening adventure a success:

• Start with a small garden – A 4-foot by 4-foot area that receives at least 6 hours of sun a day is a perfect size garden for a child to tend. If you do not have space in your yard for a garden, create a garden on a patio or deck using pots and other unique containers.
• Place your child’s name on a sign in the garden – Give your child ownership of the garden by staking his or her claim with a personalized sign.
• Provide child-sized tools – Armed with a set of their own gardening tools, children will be ready to work in their garden. A small shovel, hand trowel, clippers, watering can or garden pourer and knee pad – all stored in a gardening Tubtrug, work very well.
• Choose easy-to-grow plants – Let your child choose the plants they would like to grow. You might want to suggest that they plant vegetables and flowers in the same garden, and help them choose plants that are hardy and are easy to grow. Carrots, radishes, pumpkins, and tomatoes are good choices. Sunflowers, marigolds, and petunias make nice cut flowers and add color to the garden. For help in choosing the right plants, check out our 101 Kid-Friendly Plants book.
• Start plants from seed – Starting plants indoors from seed is a wonderful learning experience for children. Watching a plant sprout from a tiny seed is magical. Keep the seed packets so your child will be able to see what the plant will look like when it matures. To help start your seeds, use a Wonder Soil Sprout House for quick results.
• Let your child prepare the soil – Kids love to dig in the dirt! Give your child a small shovel or hand trowel and show them how to break up clumps and mix the soil.
• Let your child water the plants – Using a small watering can or garden pourer allows children to water their plants without using too much water. Collecting water from a rain barrel is fun (and a good lesson in conservation).
• Create compost – Composting weeds and other vegetable matter is a good lesson in recycling. Show children how to punch off dead flowers to encourage new growth. Try composting with worms using a Vermicomposting Kit and discuss why worms are so beneficial to a garden.
• Learn about garden bugs – Discover the many insects, both good and bad, living in the garden. Use a magnifying glass to examine leaves, flowers, and soil. Observe insects on flowers collecting pollen and drinking nectar.
• Collect your harvest – At the end of the growing season, children enjoy collecting (and eating) the vegetables they’ve grown. Make sure to take pictures of your child with their garden throughout the year, and then with their harvest.

Gardening with your child allows you time to get to know each other better. It is a perfect time to talk and hear your child’s thoughts. Be creative, be helpful, set guidelines, nurture curiosity, and let your kids grow!

Make sure to keep an eye on our blog this month for more gardening ideas and fun activities!

Visit our store for our Gardening Featured Products this month, and get started on your gardens!

Did You Know?

Did you know that the Johnny Jump-Up flower is edible? Try this for a refreshing garden surprise:

• Carefully pick the flower heads of Johnny Jump-Ups and wash them gently. Freeze the flowers in an ice cube tray filled with distilled water (distilled water makes the ice cubes much clearer). When the ice cubes are frozen, add them to a cool glass of lemonade. Sit in your garden and enjoy!


• Use Johnny Jump-Ups as a garnish in salads (grown from your garden, of course!); on top of ice cream or cakes; or surprise your kids by including the flowers in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!