Kid's Activity: Let's Get Ready to Garden!

by Carol Jordan

Getting Started

It's a beautiful, spring day. The kids are ready for an outside activity and so are you! How about creating a kids' garden plot? Preparing your garden begins before planting season arrives. For different areas the preparation time comes in different months.

Those in the southern United States and most of the coastal areas can begin planting in March; those in the central United States and the north eastern coastal areas won't begin planting until May; and those in the northern states and Canada might not begin planting until June.

March is a great time to prepare an area for a vegetable garden or flower bed; clearing out any weeds, rocks, or other things that would get in the way of planting.

• Make a stack of small rocks, large rocks, a pile of burnable stuff, another pile for things that will compost (We'll talk about composting with kids as another activity!).
• Grab a garbage sack for the unexpected miscellaneous that may show up.
• Add fertilizer, peat moss, or other needed soil enhancers.
• Get out the spade and rake. Now you're ready to spade the soil to a 6 or 8 inch depth.
• The last step is to rake smooth and admire the prepared area!

How Big a Garden

Start small! A good rule of thumb for children's individual gardens is one square foot per year of age. A six-year-old should find a 2 foot by 3 foot patch about as much as she wants to care for. Your four-year-old will most likely burn out unless he has a smaller plot -- one about 2 foot x 2 foot or a 1 foot x 4 foot border area.

Be sure you have chosen a place with ample sunlight, adequate drainage and little traffic since you don't want your child's garden flooding or being trampled. Once your garden area is clear and ready you will want to decide what to plant. Below are recommended plants that work well for children:

What Grows Best in Your Area

• Login or register to post comments
• Share