Create a garden! What a great activity for the summer with the kids. In your yard or even in containers in an apartment. It is a great way teach responsibility. Make the kids responsible for watering the garden.
We live in an apartment, but have a windowsill full of plants
and Alexander’s job is to water them.
He has his own watering can and picks all the basil to go on our pizzas.
We have been experimenting with growing, Basil, Rosemary, Dill,
Mint,
Cilantro,
Black Eyed Peas,
Tomatoes,
Corn
and Squash for months.
We started with a hodge podge of seeds from the Queens Botanical Garden last fall planted in 2″ square seedling pots at one of the children’s activity day.
We learned by trial and error. Our dill plant died from aphids, very disappointing.
I spent months searching for books on gardening with children in Barnes and Nobles and at several libraries. Many were single subject, only covering tomatoes or just glossing over gardening in general.
Here are two books that are fantastic resources for gardening with your kids. I wish we had them right from the start.
The first is Garden to Table by Katherine Hengel published by Scarletta Junior Readers in 2014.
This is a cookbook and gardening book divided into sections based on basil or vegetables. Each section instructs you how best to grow your carrots for example followed by 5 – 6 recipes. There are tons of helpful hints from harvesting to storing and wonderful illustrations showing the stages of growth.
The second book is Grow Your Own For Kids by Chris Collins and Lia Leendertz published by Octopus Books USA in 2012 and has a more in depth look into gardening.
There are some food suggestions to use your produce and lots of projects even building a bird house. This book also goes into the science of gardening and organic gardening.
I love both these books and highly recommend them. Get out in the sun and grow your own food with your children! The possibilities are endless and the rewards so delicious.
Avec Amour, Victoria and Alexander