Hey, kids, grow a plant! Make a garden! No matter what the season, there is always something you can learn about your gardens – indoor and out. Discover the benefits to growing your own vegetables, or how you can plant certain varieties to benefit the environment. There is a great deal you can learn about when it comes to all the components of gardening, so dig in! Here is a list of some fun garden activities:
• Grow plants that require low maintenance, like cactus.
• Grow plants that are pretty, like coleus.
• Multiply plants by taking cuttings, rooting and then planting them, like ivy, coleus or geranium.
• Start flowers and vegetables from seeds you collect or buy, such as: grapefruit or avocado, marigolds or sunflowers, beans or peas, crowns like pineapple or eyes like potatoes.
• Force branches to bloom in winter.
• Start bulbs indoors for early flowers like special varieties of tulip, hyacinth, or daffodil.
• Grow a seed through a cycle, like sunflower. Plant, grow, harvest, dry, roast and eat!
• Plant a butterfly garden, or bird-friendly garden.
• Plan activities around bugs and worms in the garden!
• Learn about insecticides and chemicals and their affect on the environment.
What makes soil?
Here is a fun activity where you can learn about soil. Take a large jar, at least a quart, and add some soil so that the bottom is completely covered with no glass showing. Fill the jar with water and let it sit for a day. What you will discover is all the different layers which make up soil, sorted out by weight.
• sand
• silt
• clay
• Organic matter: the lightest floats on top!
How do I start a garden?
Answer these questions first to determine what kind of garden you would like to start:
• Why do you want a garden?
• Is it for flowers?
• Do you want perennials? They bloom only once in a growing season, and come back each year.
• Do you want annuals? They bloom continuously but die with the frosts of fall and winter
• Is it for food? Vegetables can help with your family’s food bill, and can taste better and fresher than store-bought! You can grow a "pizza garden" with all of your favorite toppings, a "taco garden" for adding to your tacos or nachos, or an "eggroll garden" for stuffing in your homemade eggrolls.
Where can you garden?
Depending on what type of garden you want to grow, there are a large amount of possibilities for you in choosing a location. Maybe there is a corner of your family's garden, or grandparent's garden, or space in your yard? Maybe there is a community garden? It is best to look for a small space and grow it after a year of experience. Ask an adult for help in choosing the best location for your personal garden space.
Who can help you?
Start with your parents and grandparents, and work with them to learn. There are also programs, classes and clubs, such as Minnesota 4-H Clubs. They can show you how to first prepare the soil for planting, removing grass and weeds and their roots. Get the whole family involved and watch your garden grow together each year!
What do you need?
• Your garden space
• A set of kid-friendly, smaller-sized garden tools
• Plants or seeds to start out your garden
When do I garden?
A garden is a year-around project! Take a look at the seasons below to show what kind of gardening is available in Minnesota.
During the winter we:
• Take care of house plants and indoor gardens
• Plant and care for a terrarium
• Plan and dream about next year
• Look back over our successes and even challenges of the past year
(We learn from what doesn't work!)
• Look through garden books, magazines, and seed catalogs for ideas
• Make garden art, fences, supports, stepping stones, etc.
During the late winter and spring we:
• Start seeds
During the spring we:
• transplant perennials that bloomed in fall
• In summer we
• take care of the garden
• visit other gardens for ideas
During the late summer and fall we:
• Collect seeds from heirloom and favorite plants for next year
• Take cuttings for rooting new plants
• Dig up roots of plants to winter them, as
• Dig up plants to winter them, as geraniums and coleus
• Plant bulbs for next spring's flowers
• Transplant spring-flowering plants for next year
Now that you have the right tools and direction, go out and start gardening!