We all know that kids love dirt, and what better excuse we can give them than taking up gardening.
This environment can be one of the most exciting areas where they can learn many practical skills that are beneficial all through their life.
Because things take time, children learn to be patient and delivers an overwhelming sense of achievement when they start harvesting the fruits of their labours.
Growing a Pizza Garden
What kid doesn’t like pizza? If there is one way to get them interested in gardening, than growing a ‘Pizza garden’ can be just the thing.
Ideally, these should be round, but to make it easier for kids to garden and stop them walking over the soil, you can erect a raised bed in a hexagonal shape.
Divide this into six and choose all veggies and herbs which can be used as pizza toppings. Drainage is much better in raised beds due to the potting soil you would use, so all you need then is a sunny part of your garden.
Plants or pizza toppings you can choose are:
- Tomatoes
- Bell peppers
- Chives, spring onions
- Parsley, oregano, rosemary, and basil
Once these are in full growth, your kids can pick what they want without pulling the entire plant. Fresh herbs and tomatoes will never taste so good, and your kids will love eating a pizza they have grown.
Building Bean Towers
When you are looking at how to start a vegetable garden for kids, you need to choose something that will keep them interested.
Bean towers can double as a teepee, or at least they will think it is a teepee until their beans begin climbing up the poles and across the twine.
All you need for these bean towers are three long poles and twine to fasten them together at the top in a pyramid shape, and twine to link horizontally across from each pole.
Once you have this erected, plant pole beans at the foot of the poles and once they start growing, your kids will see them climbing up the wood before they can begin harvesting fresh juicy beans.
Kids Container Gardens
Container gardens can come in all shapes and sizes. From small plastic containers or food cans to old wheelbarrows and bathtubs to purpose-built raised beds.
These are easier for children to access, and they can grow veggies which are fast growing so results can be seen much quicker.
No matter what kind of container you use with your kids, be sure they have drainage holes and is they are to be used in sunny parts of your home, they need to sit in drip trays.
If you have a sunny area, you can even make a container garden in a hanging basket to grow bush variety tomatoes.
These will hang down rather than grow upward, and your kids will have a healthy amount of satisfaction when they are plucking fresh tomatoes for lunch.
These can easily be made with your kids by using 5-gallon buckets. Cut a hole in the bottom and place a piece of the mesh before filling with potting soil. Through a slit in the mesh, you can poke your tomato plant before hanging it.
Converting Your Kids Old Sandbox
If your kids are too big for their sandbox, there is no better way to make use of this than transform it into their garden.
You can level the sand and then lay weed control fabric across the bottom and fill it with potting soil. This makes a garden the ideal height and size for kids to take control of.
Letting them take control brings a level of responsibility which they will carry with them as they grow older.
If you get them smaller gardening tools which fit their hands, they can copy how your garden until they know what they are doing on their own.
Kids Vertical Pallet Gardens
These very simple to make pallet gardens can replace raised bed or container gardens and require less work by your children. All you need is one or two pallets, landscaping fabric, and a staple gun and some good potting soil.
Lay the pallets on the floor with the most significant openings facing upward. Fasten the landscape fabric to the back with staples and then either fasten them to a wall. Be careful of watering or your wall can become damaged.
You can also erect them in an upturned V shape. Now your kids have all the small areas to plant herbs, lettuce, and they can even plant squash in the bottom because this grows across the floor.
There are literally hundreds of ideas for kids vegetable gardens, and most of the fun is letting them decide which way they want to take their garden.