I often heard stories from people about their gardening experience when they were children. Usually the story has something to do with the person being forced to pull mountains of weeds. The quickest way for kids to lose their interest in gardening is to force them to do laborious and monotonous tasks, like weeding. When … Read more
It’s important for kids to have a place to play outdoors. My kids are outside with me all the time but they don’t always want to garden so to help them have a safe place to play and explore I put together this children’s patio and mini-garden for Lowe’s Creative Ideas. It’s a simple project … Read more
We have three children in our household who love to be outdoors. It’s extremely hard for this gardener to sneak outside without someone tagging along. That’s a good thing! I’m thrilled that they love to be outside in the open air experiencing what all kids should have the opportunity to experience. It’s important though that … Read more
My daughters from 2009 – Ages 2 and 4 My kids are kind of strange. Of course I know what you’re thinking, all kids are a little weird. They have their quirks, their unique traits that will eventually turn them in to unique adults. That’s not the kind of weird I’m talking about. While visiting … Read more
It’s been warm here in TN. Very warm. So warm that everything thinks it is indeed spring – including this gardener! Essentially it is spring. The weather is identical to a typical March, warm days, heavy rain showers coming through. We’ve even had thunderstorms – in January. It’s been a strange month. But just because … Read more
As you might imagine much of our time is spent in the garden. The kids are outdoors as much as possible (when the weather is cooperative). I don’t think just being outdoors is enough, being in the garden is where children should be and here’s why: Gardening gets kids active physically. One big issue facing … Read more
I’m finding that this year has by far been the most challenging year for the garden. At least so far. It’s not just because of the sweltering heat that is sitting on us like some big ole bear on a circus ball. And it’s not just the complete lack of rain over the last couple … Read more
Yesterday I spent some time out in the garden with my 3 year old daughter. We dug, we raked, we planted, we played with worms, simply put … we gardened! Here are just a few photos from our time outdoors in the beautiful weather and in the garden. (Oh and just so you know “free … Read more
Kids in the garden are funny creatures. Although your kids may be too young to do many of the garden chores that need done it’s important to get them out there not only to learn but to get fresh air. Gardening is an invaluable educational tool because children can learn how to do things, procedures, … Read more
Stopping to smell the daylilies may get you a mild to severe case of nasal pollenitis. Symptoms include a dusty yellow-orange substance that can be found on the surfaces of the nose, possible sneezing and runny eyes, as well as a possible case of severe giggles.
My daughter and I recently did a little project. We took materials that were lying around the house and put together a mini-seed starting greenhouse. It was a simple and easy project to work on with my 3 and a half year old daughter. Read on to see what we did. Materials: Paper roll tubes, … Read more
Recently I was asked some questions about gardening with children and while there are certainly quite a few tips I could mention about the subject there is one idea that stands out above all others in my mind. Do what the kids love! Every kid is different and each one has as many different ideas … Read more
What a weekend! You don’t get weather like we had very often. The thermometer hit the 70’s for the first time in a long while and we took advantage of it. We spent very little time indoors, how could we? After being cooped up in the house since fall any outside opportunity had to be … Read more
The other day while my youngest daughter was taking her morning nap my other daughter and I went out to play in the garden. It was a nice August day, very atypical as it was comfortably in the 80’s. Our first stop was down to her garden. It was full of the zinnias and sunflowers … Read more
Today I went tomato harvesting in our vegetable garden. We had quite a crop! They ranged from the little Sweet 100’s to some very large 16 ounce tomatoes. This wasn’t our first large harvest. We’ve had a steady diet of the red wonder fruits throughout this summer. We’ve eaten them sliced on turkey sandwiches with … Read more
One thing that is important to me is that our children learn to appreciate gardening and nature. All kids should learn at some point how to plant a seed, how that seed becomes a plant, and what it takes for that seed to grow. Learning those three ideas will instill in the child an appreciation … Read more
Heavy rains are coming through Tennessee today and tomorrow so not much work will get done out in the garden. Yesterday I picked up some bagged dirt to add a little more soil to the vegetable garden to make up for what the rains had settled down. While getting the dirt at the big blue … Read more
On Monday Tennessee had near record temperatures in the upper 60’s. On Tuesday it got warmer. According to the local television broadcast Nashville hit 71 degrees Fahrenheit which ties a record set in the 1800’s. The warmth has left us now but we took advantage of it while it was here! Here’s what we did: … Read more
I missed posting yesterday due to the birth of our brand new baby daughter! So let me introduce you to Olivia Rose. She was born yesterday morning at 10:44, healthy and happy! She weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 ozs. and 19 1/4 inches long. Everyone is doing great and both mother and daughter come … Read more
My daughter and I went out to play today in the 70+ degree temperatures. Our goal was to take advantage of the last gasp of warm weather before old man winter came for his annual visit. Almost immediately my daughter darted to the sandbox. We removed the covers from the sandbox to reveal an assortment … Read more
