First lady Michelle Obama planted a vegetable garden two months ago on the White House yard. This has not been done in a very long time but it is something she wished to do with her 2 school aged daughters, Sasha and Malia. She figuredt it would be wonderfult to have such close access to fresh vegetables to eatin addition to thinking it was important for her girls to learn how to take care of something. Creating a garden for children to enjoy and work on is a great gift and one that they will never forget. There are various kinds of gardens that you can create with your kids and in a variety of sizes and locations. If you have a goodflat piece of land, you may want to do a large vegetable garden like the Obamas. If youlive in an urban setting and just have a small outdoor area, planting flowers and vegetables in pots may be themost logical way. If you live in a severely hot or cold climate you may have minimal plants to work on and decorate your garden more with saint statues or Virgin Mary statues. Whatever type of garden you do, the following steps can get you started.
Once you have decided what kind of garden you want to do with yourkidschildren, you should select the best location. Itshould to get plenty of sunlight and not too shaded by trees or a building. The more open the area, the better. If you do not have a power tiller you can rent one from any home improvement places. This will aid in getting the soil all turned up and ready. After you till the soil, use a rake to gently smooth out the area. A chicken wire fence must also be installed around the garden if you are doing a vegetable one to keep unwanted animals from eating your vegetables. Depending on the size of the garden area, decide how many plants will fit and what types you would enjoy having. Involve the kids in this decision making process. If you are doing flowers, have the children tell you what their favorite colors are and if you are planting a vegetable garden, get their input of what type of vegetables they would like to grow. It is proven that if involved the a vegetable garden, children are more likely to eat vegetables that they planted themselves. If they choose to buy decorations like saint statues or Virgin Mary statues for the garden that is great as well. Once you havepurchased all of the plants, get the children some work gloves and little shovels and have them start digging little holes to plant the seeds and/or plants. make sure to thoroughly wet the garden with water completely and water it every day. Another great idea for the children to do , especially in a vegetable garden is to create marker signs for the plants.
Creating a garden benefits kids in teaching them responsibility of taking care of a living thing and a sense of accomplishment in being good at it.