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The whole family can get into gardening
Upcoming workshops geared toward kids
Have an old shoe or gardening glove lying around and want to put it to good use? Make it a planter. That’s one suggestion Juanita Sherwood, a Coles County Master Gardener, said is a great way to recycle what’s not being used at home and make a fun project to do with children. Sherwood said gardening with kids can be a bonding experience while teaching them responsibility at the same time.
“It teaches good life lessons I think,” Sherwood said. “It’s kind of like having a pet: You have to make sure it’s watered and well-maintained.”
Lynn Kendrick, a Master Gardener from Mattoon, said recycling and composting are other good summer projects for families. “You could show them how the composted material can be used to make the vegetables and flowers grow better,” Kendrick said. “I have done things like set out plants to show them how to start seeds in newspaper cups, then they can plant the whole thing in the ground when it’s big enough for transplanting.”
Kendrick said many children enjoying gardening because they like to see plants grow and, of course, they like to get dirty. She said it’s also a project they can do with parents, grandparents or even neighbors they enjoy spending time with.
“They’re always happy to see something good happening that they had a hand in,” Kendrick said.
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Sherwood said another benefit of gardening with kids, especially when growing fruits and vegetables, is teaching them the full circle of growth and preparation. “Kids can help prepare what they grow,” Sherwood said.
Kendrick suggested starting off with container gardening in a window box or big pot. “After that, they might want to do more in a bigger space,” she said. Kendrick also said using recycled items in the garden can be a fun project. She said she has used spruce cones from her trees to make bird feeders by spreading peanut butter on them and sprinkling birdseed over it to create a feeder to hang in the garden. “It’s messy and they think they’re doing something grand, which they are because the birds certainly like it,” Kendrick said.
For those who are just getting started, reading labels and finding the ideal spot for each plant is important, according to Kendrick. “They need to learn to read the labels because they tell them what kinds of sun or shade is needed and what kind of soil,” she said. Kendrick said this can also teach children how to follow directions.
Sherwood also suggested taking children on tours of gardens in the area. She said sites like Douglas Hart Nature Center in Mattoon and the Idea Garden on the west side of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center are great places to start.
Sherwood said if children get serious about their gardening, a good project is making a journal of what they grew that year and pasting in empty seed packages or photos of the plants that they liked so they know what to do next year.
For a quick project, Kendrick suggested taking a pair of old panty hose, filling it with soil and grass seed and watering it to watch it grow into a grass caterpillar. She said old hoses can also be painted to look like snake decoys to keep unwanted predators away from the garden.
“Gardening hits a lot of different aspects of life besides playing in the dirt,” Kendrick said. “It leads to other things like the kitchen or the salad bowl, or to take a pretty flower to Grandma that they grew themselves.”
