You Don’t Need to Be a Grandma (or a Farmer) to Start Gardening

If you’ve visited my home, you’d see small potted plants gracing every windowsill alongside little tea saucers filled with various seeds. After years of experience, I’ve learned to carefully check my partner’s pockets when doing laundry, as they often harbor seeds from interesting plants he’s discovered during his forest explorations. He was born to garden.

However, I wasn’t always so fortunate. For a long time, I managed to eliminate any plant that crossed my path, even managing to kill a cactus!

The beauty of gardening is that it can fit any budget and can be as uncomplicated or intricate as you desire. You don’t need vast fields like a farmer, or even any land at all. You also don’t need the wisdom of a grandma with a treasure trove of gardening secrets about nurturing herbs or fending off pests with cleverly placed marigolds and mint.

Getting Started with Gardening

If you’re eager to start gardening with your kids—or just for yourself—grab a few old yogurt containers, poke some holes in the bottom for drainage, fill them with potting soil from your local hardware store, and let your kids toss in some seeds. Water the soil, place it in a sunny spot, and wait. Fun options to start with are zinnias or radishes, which grow quickly and are enjoyable to observe.

Container Gardening in Small Spaces

Living in an apartment without a backyard? No problem! You can create a simple container garden using small pots. Some enthusiasts elevate their container gardening by repurposing a wooden pallet (a popular Pinterest project) and filling the spaces between the slats with yogurt containers of soil and seeds. Once the plants grow and stabilize the soil, hang the pallet on a sunny wall for an eye-catching green display. Herbs like mint, basil, parsley, and sage thrive in this setup, while nasturtiums offer a delightful, edible peppery flower that adds beauty to salads.

Exploring Gardening with Kids

For those fortunate enough to have a backyard, ambitious projects await! Consider exploring books such as Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together With Children by Emily Green. This vibrant book is packed with engaging science facts about plants and insects, along with imaginative projects like a pizza garden where kids can grow their own toppings. There’s even a simple fort project that provides a secret hideaway for kids to enjoy.

Gardening opens doors for parents to dive into science with their children. From understanding how seeds transform into plants to creating a butterfly terrarium, these moments of curiosity can lead to valuable lessons about nature. But beware—gardening can also lead to more complex topics like physics and math. Thanks to my partner’s passion for nature (and my newfound ability to keep plants alive), my children have become budding gardeners who are eager to learn about compost bins, building birdhouses, and even rescuing a swarm of bees with professional help.

The Joy of Gardening

You never know what will bloom when you combine seeds with soil. Kids will ask countless questions, and if you join them on their journey of curiosity, you’ll embark on amazing projects that foster a lifelong love for nature. This is one of the things I cherish most about my partner, and I’m thrilled to watch our children follow in his footsteps.

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Summary

Gardening is accessible to everyone, regardless of experience or space. With simple tools and creativity, anyone can cultivate plants and foster a love for nature in children, leading to exciting learning opportunities.