Getting Kids Interested In Gardening

The season of gardening is upon us. For this reason, you will find us out in the garden planting, watering, pruning and harvesting for the next few months. What better time than this to show the kids the joys of gardening. At least that is how we feel. We love to take our kids out and let them experience digging in the dirt and bringing in the bounty of a good harvest. That is why, we discussed how to sow that seed in their hearts. Like many things we parents teach, this is something they will take with them into adulthood. They will remember for a lifetime that you spent time with them outside.

We hope today's episode is the push you need to get your kids out in the garden this year. There is nothing more rewarding than watching them get excited about growing a tomato. In fact, we would love for you to drop a picture on one of our social accounts of your garden. We love to watch other people's gardens grow too.

Did you listen to our other gardening episodes? You can check some of them out HERE and HERE. Or search gardening on our website for a complete list.

Transcript

Recap

Start small and create a dedicated space for your child's garden

Let kids choose what to plant and allow them to experiment

Get kids outside and involved in the gardening process

Celebrate the harvest and involve kids in the joy of eating what they've grown

Chapters

00:00 Getting Kids Interested in Gardening

04:20 Creating a Space for Your Child's Garden

15:37 Involving Kids in the Gardening Process

Music is by Oliver Massa. It is called Weekend Chores

Transcript

Lauren (00:04.782)

Getting your kids interested in gardening is not at all hard. They always want to grow something. Maybe it's part of the human condition. I hadn't really thought about that until this episode. Today, we're going to talk a bit about how you get your kids interested and some of the things that we have done to encourage ours.

Lauren (00:31.63)

First of all, I think we should talk about how we got started in the business of gardening.

Lauren (00:41.422)

Yes, I remember my first memories of gardening outside is actually picking green beans, which isn't really, it's not a fond memory. I remember it being 900 degrees outside and I had to walk uphill both ways to get to the garden. It was brutal. 

Ellyn (00:52.419)

Mine too!

Ellyn (01:03.939)

In the snow, no wait nevermind.

Lauren (01:08.718)

I actually hated it. But what I loved about gardening was that we got so many fresh vegetables every year. And I noticed when I was a kid, how much better they were than anything that we bought at the store, no matter what time of year it was or where we were buying it.

Ellyn (01:13.027)

Me too.

Lauren (01:34.222)

No, farmer's market is better than your own garden. And I know we've said, if you can't have a garden, go to a farmer's market. And I mean it. Not kidding about that. You should, but it's not as good.

Ellyn (01:48.674)

So if you can grow it yourself, you should, because it does taste so much better. That is also my first garden memory. And the reason you and I were out there, and I don't think we ever went out together. I think that it was something they sent us out to do separately, but was because they didn't want to, because it was 900 degrees.

Lauren (01:52.398)

do it.

Lauren (02:05.006)

No, I don't think so.

Ellyn (02:17.731)

you had to walk uphill both ways to get there. So they didn't want to do it.

Lauren (02:20.462)

Yeah.

Ellyn (02:24.931)

But somebody sent us out. Of course, they did all the rest of it. They planted the beans and weeded the beans. But the part that I had to do was the worst part. Not really. I just didn't want to.

Lauren (02:37.23)

I've thought about it since then, like when I'm out there picking beans now, it's different now. I'm just going to say it. It's different than when I was a kid and I live in a much hotter area now than I did when I was a kid. But it's, I don't know. It's, it's almost.

Ellyn (02:43.457)

It is.

Ellyn (02:48.929)

Yes.

Ellyn (02:56.29)

It's rewarding because you grew that. Yes. Absolutely.

Lauren (02:58.318)

It's exciting. Yeah. To go out there and pick your own stuff. Yeah. And I wouldn't send my kids out to do it because I'd be afraid that they would step on stuff and pull up the plant because that's pretty easy to do. So, yeah, I'm not there yet. Just not quite there yet.

Ellyn (03:14.241)

Mm -hmm.

Ellyn (03:21.217)

Nope. I don't remember really doing a whole lot else. I did weed. I definitely weeded things when...

Lauren (03:30.318)

They trusted you more than me. I never weeded.

Ellyn (03:33.889)

I would rather send a kid to weed than pick beans.

Lauren (03:40.334)

I don't know. Maybe they thought I wouldn't be able to tell which plants were good plants and which plants were bad plants.

Ellyn (03:46.849)

I don't know.

Lauren (03:48.526)

I don't either. I get my kids out in our big garden right now to weed. All the time. But only during the off season. Like when I can say, go to the garden and anything that's growing is bad. Pull it out. Then I send them out to weed.

Ellyn (04:05.248)

Hehehe

Ellyn (04:10.08)

So that will be their memory. Actually, it won't, because you're actually really good about getting your kids growing things. So let's talk about it.

Lauren (04:13.198)

I know.

Lauren (04:20.046)

Yes, yes. Our first idea for this is to start really small. And actually, if you are one of those people who doesn't have a garden, I would recommend this for you to start one thing with them and just see how it does. And if you start something that doesn't take very long, you can always plant one other thing a little bit later in the year if you want to.

Ellyn (04:33.758)

Mm -hmm.

Lauren (04:48.846)

But with my kids, I started them on a, I think it's a two by five garden. It's like a little raised bed. And I let them, I let them overplant. There were no rules in their garden. They get to learn the rules of gardening in mine and their garden. They get to do whatever they want. They plant things as close together as they want to. I figure maybe this will evolve over the years to something that's a little bit more appropriate from them watching us garden in other areas and from them also taking over larger portions of the yard for their own garden. Right now they don't have much choice but to plant things on top of each other.

Ellyn (05:42.11)

Yep, and I agree with this. I did the same when my kids were little and I'll do it with my youngest this year. I liked to designate certain plants as theirs. We never really did a, this is your garden because I didn't have the space for that. I didn't feel at the time, but I would designate certain plants that would get their own personal care.

So this is your pepper plant. Anything it grows is yours, but you're also responsible for keeping it watered and keeping it weeded. And they loved nurturing their own special plants. And if it was really an abundant crop, I helped them pick and we did things with it, but it was special to them because it was theirs. And so that's how we did it.

Lauren (06:41.486)

I definitely do. I like having them work in the big garden with us and then also doing their small garden. I think I'm actually going to do a giant planter for our daughter this year for her birthday and for yours too. Yeah. She needs her own space, but.

Ellyn (07:02.174)

She will love that.

Lauren (07:09.294)

I, they love having their own garden and they have been really good about getting out there and watering it. And again, they get to pick everything that it produces and eat it right there in the backyard. They don't even have to bring it in and wash it off because we don't use any chemicals or anything. And you know, you just dust off the bugs that are eating it cause we don't use any chemicals and it's ready to go.

Ellyn (07:23.166)

Yes.

Ellyn (07:31.742)

You just eat that right down.

Lauren (07:35.214)

Mm -hmm. But take the bugs out first. But anyway,  they do really love having their own little space. But in the last two or two years, I'd say two years, I've let them get more involved in the big garden as well. And then our youngest adopted plants that came up in strange places. Like we had, we had lettuce  come up in the flower bed where it really wasn't supposed to be. I'm not sure why it was there. I told it that it should go someplace else and it didn't. So she adopted it and she didn't actually take care of it at all, like with watering or anything like that, but she did eat it when it got big enough. And a tomato plant also came up out there. I think a bird dropped that seed for us.

Ellyn (08:30.174)

Thank you.

Lauren (08:31.63)

Yes, I have tomato plants coming up all over the yard. I just noticed last year that they're growing in the grass everywhere. I guess they're getting into the compost maybe? I'm not really sure, but yep, I've got lots of tomato plants.

Ellyn (08:47.934)

Hehehe.

Ellyn (08:51.518)

And I think that with my youngest, I will let her do her own kid garden. I've watched your kids do that and it is, it's fun. It's fun to watch them learn through doing ends. That would be good for her.

Lauren (09:09.774)

Mm -hmm. I think it's really fun. I like to let them choose what they're going to plant. So clearly I'm not going to have them plant zucchini if they don't like it. So they got to choose and they always choose cucumbers and tomatoes because that's their favorite respectively. And they really like peppers too and carrots and green beans. You remember how big I said this thing was. This is getting to be a lot of vegetables, but they get to pick and they get to plant and, and actually one time we even started plants with a friend on the play date. So this poor kid comes over to our house and I, it was like a last minute thing. I was helping his mom out. And he comes over and I was like, well, I was planning on starting some plants with the kids today, so you can too. And he's like, oh, okay. I thought we were going to kick a ball or, you know, do something else. No, he was really excited. And, and you know what? I find this to be true of all kids under a certain age. I haven't seen it not happen with my own. They love to plant things, to grow things, to see that new life, you know, coming, coming up. I’ve never seen a kid be like, oh, how lame you're planting plants. No, they're all excited about it. And this kid was too. And when he came over, he was expecting to kick a ball around and, you know, run up and down. And he was glad to exchange that for and I let him take them home. I let him take a whole bunch home with him to his mother's like, Oh, okay. So yeah, you're giving me those. Okay.

Ellyn (11:12.215)

Thanks.

Ellyn (11:17.015)

Go to let them outside.

Lauren (11:20.302)

That's what she did. She had him plant them in the flower bed. Because why not?

Ellyn (11:23.639)

And so it begins again.

Lauren (11:27.822)

Mm -hmm. I started it in other people's kids. Ma ha ha!

Ellyn (11:37.493)

Let them do their own work in their next one. Let them pull their own weeds. Let them harvest their own vegetables. Let them be a part of the process of getting their garden started. There's a fair amount of work when you first start. You know, you have to, especially if you're doing a raised bed, you have to put the bed together and then fill it with dirt get it all ready to go and then obviously put your plants in it. So they have to be able to do their own work because only then will they see and take and feel that they are growing their own stuff. It's like going back to Lauren and I, you know, picking beans. We only saw the end of the process and I didn't feel rewarding to stand out.

Lauren (12:25.582)

in the burning hot sun.

Ellyn (12:31.028)

in the burning hot sun and pick beans because we hadn't been part of the beginning of the process and maybe we had and we just don't remember. I mean we would have to go back and talk to our parents about that. It's possible that we were but that didn't make an impression like the hot sun did.

Lauren (12:46.318)

Right. I know that's all I remember and I know I participated more than that. I had to have done something else. And that's, that's the only memory I have is picking green beans.

Ellyn (12:52.244)

I'm sure.

Ellyn (12:58.356)

Mm hmm. Me too. Yep. And I like I said, I do remember doing some weeding, but I mean, we grew gobs of vegetables when we were kids. And I shouldn't take any credit because all I did was pick green beans, but they grew gobs of vegetables when we were kids. And I don't I mean,  I don't remember picking tomatoes. I mean, we picked lots of tomatoes, I'm sure. But I don't remember any of that.

Lauren (13:10.99)

We did. 

Lauren (13:16.398)

Right.

Ellyn (13:28.852)

Just the beans.

Lauren (13:31.182)

Well, I do remember years later after I'd already had a garden for several years myself being told by our dad that I was picking the tomatoes when they weren't quite ready. That one isn't truly red yet. And he's like, see the difference? And he held out two tomatoes and I'm like, sure. I see a total difference.

Ellyn (13:52.34)

Yeah!

Hi, Dad.

Lauren (14:00.334)

No, he's all about doing things exactly right in the garden, and it's his garden, so may as well.

Ellyn (14:06.9)

Yep.

Lauren (14:10.766)

And actually, you know what? He caught that bug from his own mother. Who had a big -ish... It seemed big to me.

Ellyn (14:21.012)

It was pretty big.

Lauren (14:22.51)

It was big. Anyway, she had a big garden and she spent a lot of time in it and everything in there that she put her hand to did well. I remember her giving us vegetables when we were kids, even though we had a garden of our own. It's like now we've got vegetables coming out of our ears. We survived on vegetables.

Ellyn (14:40.692)

Yeah.

Lauren (14:45.646)

And she grew rhubarb too. It was the first time that I'd ever had rhubarb. And it's just some amazing stuff.

Ellyn (15:01.3)

Yep, it is.

Lauren (15:04.59)

Anyway.

Ellyn (15:04.852)

Alright.

Our next one is just general good family and kid advice. Get them outside as much as possible. If the weather is nice and sometimes even when it's not, send them outside, go outside with them. It's better for your overall disposition to spend time outside every day. And I know we've said that before, but I really believe that getting your kids outside every day makes for a better

childhood and better parenting experience, whether it's related to the garden or not.

Lauren (15:44.494)

Yep. And it does relate to the garden. If you get your kids outside every single day from the time that they're old enough to crawl, then they'll, they'll have that connection. You know, the good times, especially if you live in a place where there are seasons. So in the winter, you can't really have your crawling child, you know, crawling around on the frozen or snow covered ground, but.

Ellyn (16:14.1)

Oh, you can?

Lauren (16:14.478)

They look forward. They look forward to it. You know, like, yay, okay, it's spring. And every single year, my kids seem like it seems new to them to every year to get outside in the spring. And you know, these kids have been going out all winter. We don't exactly live in the Arctic, but it's colder and browner.

And not quite as delightful, I guess, as in the spring. They just have a connection with it that is.

loving. They love being out there in the spring and actually it's my favorite season to be outside too.

Ellyn (17:02.676)

Mm -hmm. Yep, me too.

Lauren (17:09.422)

Anyway, it leads to good gardeners. That's what I'm trying to say.

Ellyn (17:11.828)

It does.

Lauren (17:19.438)

I like to try and make this as fun as possible, especially for your little little kids. So they...

I wouldn't and I don't know, this is just my way of doing it. I don't set any hard and fast rules on what they do in their own garden. I expect them to learn about how to garden from gardening in our big garden. And they have been doing that for the last few years, like I said, but in their garden, if they want to let weeds grow, I let weeds grow. Like I just, I don't put a lot of rules on it and restrictions because I want them to keep on enjoying it. And, you know, I tell them that they'll enjoy it more if their weeds are gone so that they aren't tramping through weeds to try and get to what few vegetables can find the sunlight. But I, like I said, I just, I try not to put a lot of restrictions on what they do in their own place because I want them to keep on having fun with it. When they get a little bit older, I think that that dynamic changes a little bit. They do need to learn something from it. It's not too different than any education that you get when you're little. There's a lot more room for errors than there is when you're in advanced calculus. There's not really any room for errors there unless you have a really lenient teacher. But in a garden, there's always room for small errors. But the older they get, the more they should be learning about the proper way to do things.

Ellyn (19:10.772)

Right. And thankfully, there's more than one proper way to do things. And there is every possibility that by the time they are teenagers, they're experimenting in ways that you might adopt and you might decide are good ways to use in your own garden. So I learn stuff from my teenagers all the time that I didn't, they just look at things differently than I do as everybody, you know, everybody looks at things a little bit different. So I like that they have a level of experience in many areas, not just gardening, but in many areas where they can take on trying something new and maybe it works better than what I've always done. And so I like that.

Lauren (20:15.662)

Finally we have the harvest. So a lot of plants in a garden you harvest all year. You think of harvest and it's always fall. But all year long my kids are bringing in stuff from their garden and every time they do I make a big deal about it. Oh my goodness look at that great handful of green beans. What are you gonna do with those? Eat them? And of course they want me to have one. Here have one! You know, and yeah, celebrating that is, I feel, an important step to having a grown up gardener someday. Yes. Oh my goodness. That's amazing. Look at that green tomato. I thought it was going to get bigger, but I guess he didn't think so.

Ellyn (21:04.884)

That's nice. Beautiful.

Lauren (21:11.374)

That was with the baby. My others knew not to pick any green ones by the time that we got a garden, but she, you know, I remember her, like she's one, clutching this tomato in her tiny little fist. And she was just so happy about it. Like, look, a real tomato just grew out of the ground. She loved tomatoes. So, yep, I celebrated with her.

Ellyn (21:40.404)

Oh, hehehe.

Lauren (21:40.526)

My one year old and her green tomato.

Ellyn (21:44.404)

One of my favorite things to do with actually all three of my kids, if I can get them to go with me, is to walk around roundabout dusk, right before dusk, I would say, and look at what's growing and watch. And I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but I just love doing the garden walk. We usually wait till after dinner and we'll go and look at what's getting ready to be ready.

what's ready right now and pick what needs to be picked. Actually, usually we do that before dinner, but we'll... But I just love the excitement of watching my kids celebrate what the garden is doing. Whether the things in it are ready or not, they're excited to see even the zucchini, which none of them like, growing.

Lauren (22:22.094)

right?

Ellyn (22:43.937)

They love to see things grow and it's a celebration every time. And I delight in watching them watch the garden grow and learn from just being out there. And the time for pulling weeds will come and I mean, my big kids have pulled lots of weeds, but the time for my youngest. The time for pulling weeds will come, but right now I just want her to enjoy it and to see the potential of getting to enjoy our garden feast. And it just, it brings me so much happiness to take that walk with her every day. It's fun and makes gardening, even if I never ate a single thing, it would make gardening worth it because it is. The delight in her makes me happy.

Lauren (23:45.038)

Yep, and I would say that's definitely true. I said that's definitely true for me too. I love seeing them come up that way. The same way that we did. The same way that our parents did. Just growing up in the garden, doing what they can with whatever space is available.

Ellyn (24:08.446)

Yep. And if any of our listeners don't have space for a big garden, I will say that my mother -in -law gardens in about four pots right outside her door. And she delights in that little garden just as much as I do in my garden out in my yard. So you don't have to have a huge spot for it. Do it on a patio, do it in a few pots. Whatever you can do, just grow something and enjoy the experience with your kids because it is so much fun.

Lauren (24:48.174)

And if you're not much of a gardener, it doesn't take much to make a kid happy either. Like a regular sized planter and a pepper, tomato and green bean plant, and they will be pleased. Even if they don't eat any of that stuff, they'll still be happy to do it. So it takes a little.

Ellyn (25:07.614)

Yep, very true.

And a flower or two, too.

Lauren (25:14.254)

Yeah, I'm here for that kind of thing.

Ellyn (25:16.286)

I am. I like pretty things. Well, guys, this is a super fun time of year and getting kids excited about doing this work is so rewarding. If you enjoyed this episode today, help support our work by sharing and following us on our social media and wherever you love to listen. Until next time.