Gardens for Children Keep Them Away from the Rough Crowd

The rough crowd will make the wrong impression if baby watches too much TV. The solution? - gardening.

We are going to have an overflow garden this spring. Our helper asked about using rose canes to start his own roses. I visited a home in Midland where a retired couple rooted rose canes in water and planted them, so they could have more of the roses they liked the best. They had 100 - 200 roses in their yard.

Another way is to order seed by the pound instead of the packet. That provides enough seed for every purpose and plenty to spare. When ordering in bulk, the cost difference between 1/2 pound and a pound is slight. That is why they bring in colored packets of 10 seeds at a time to Lowe's, Home Depot, and other home and garden spots. They are minting money.

Sure, he makes a lot of money, but is this a good way to spend his life?

I buy seed packets willingly - only when they go on sale - at a dime a packet. That is a good way to experiment with new varieties late in the season. Ordering packets by mail is a double-theft, since the distributors add so much for shipping. They will send them fast for even more money, which is pretty strange, since a lot of seed can be mailed Priority for $5 a box.

Those like me--who buy 25 pound bags of black oil sunflower seeds for the birds squirrels--know that seed can be very cheap. In fact, the seed that volunteers from feeding will produce quite a few new sunflowers in the spring, germinating at the right time. No doubt squirrels plant them - just to be sure - while eating more than their share.

A large bag of giant, striped sunflower seeds will produce a nine-foot tall wall of sunflowers. That can be used to box in a play area for kids, so they can hide. Children like to go inside and call out to their parents. "Can you see me?" Parents - "No, where are you?" Laughter.

The giant disks can be harvested for roasting the seeds. Parents - make a circle with your arms. That is how big a sunflower head can be, if giant, striped sunflowers are planted. The seeds are much bigger. The stems are almost wooden. The leaves are enormous, and the seedheads gigantic.

Pole beans and edible pod peas can be grown up in tepee fashion, with a straw floor. Children go inside the door and pick beans or peas hanging from the structure. All it takes is a tall pole in the ground, a wire border fence for the perimeter, and string up to the top of the pole. If I could build that, anyone can.

A bird trapeze is a lot of fun, year around. Birds love to perch near food, but often farther away from human observation. Once again, I built my own, even though I am allergic to such projects. I screwed in s-hooks in the eaves, hung two chains, and stretched a small metal rod between the chains. Birds landed and swung there all the time (New Ulm) after feeding from the outside ledge. I scattered sunflower seeds on the ledge all winter. The more brutal the winter, the more popular my offerings.
The birds soon became used to us watching from the picture window, a short distance away.

Children like to grow food they enjoy eating, and having their own garden will make many vegetables more appealing to them. They may not like tomatoes that much, but cherry tomatoes are sweeter, easy to grow, and easy to eat outside. A green pepper growing outside is far more appealing that one wrinkling up in the fridge.

"Would you like some green pepper, Billie?" Answer - "No!"

"Stay out of the green peppers in the garden, Billie." Response - "Can I have just one?"

Mrs. I and Little Ichabod always liked raw beans, so we never cooked them. They ate them all the time. We all edible pod peas in the spring until they became loathsome to us. We gave them away to friends, which meant we had even more peas growing. The  pet rabbits ate extra growth, and that meant even more peas.

Weeds were sown among the good crops - no doubt about it.

Berries are great fun for everyone. All creatures large and small love them all. Initially the creatures seem to get the best ones, but soon there are plenty for everyone. Some raspberry canes bear twice a summer, and they love to spread through root systems.

Wild berries like gooseberries will grow well on their own. I have bright, red wild strawberries still producing in our backyard now, on November 8th - thanks to water and mulch.

I will try domestic strawberries on straw bales in the spring. I did not like the experience of growing them on soil. They fed the ants more than anyone else.

Gardening is a great way to find out how all of God's creatures work together. Creation gardening means learning how the overlooked and despised (weeds, insects, spiders, fungi, earthworms) make our lives better and healthier.

Don't let baby join the KISS Army.