Gardening with children
I am told that this weekend is the time to get my seeds in the ground in Southern Manitoba . So, the girls and I are heading outside and we'll officially start our garden this Mother's Day weekend! Once we get the beds ready, we will be planting them with some red onions, pumpkin, zucchini and radishes and in our container's we will be growing red and blue potatoes, carrots, beans and peas.
We are very excited as this week, I received two yards of dirt from Brunet, a local construction company. We were also given nearly a dozen, five gallon pails from the school my middle child attends, as the pails would just have been thrown away otherwise. Last night I visited Hillbilly's Garden Centre . I couldn't resist it when I saw the "shamrocks" and ivy and knew that planting them would be a great activity for us this evening.
As we move through Spring, the girls will be a great source of help in the garden and will, I hope, feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when the vegetables start coming. I would like to give them something that they can plant on their own and nurture. So, when the risk of frost has waned, the girls and I will go back to Hillbilly's Garden Centre and they will each have a chance to make their own container gardens. I saw the Tubby Containers by Buy Canadian First member Garant in several awesome colours there and the girls will have the opportunity to choose their own plants and colours for their Tubby.
I love the idea of a child's garden and envision it as a space they can call their own, to dig in, plant and tend to plants. While space is limited, I would like to cordon off a corner of the yard and fill it with their Tubby containers and large natural elements like logs, stumps, large rocks and maybe even a pile of dirt to dig in and explore. I would adore watching them within this mini, natural playscape. One final detail I keep forgetting about is getting some catnip and cat grass seeds to plant. My handsome Mitty Kleeburger loves to play outside with us and his latest joy is to dig, burrow and play in my two yards of soil. I'm sure that cat grass would be preferable to just soil!
Are you going to plant a child's or a pet garden in your yard this Spring?
Image source: Andrea Williowcat, Melissa Lacelle and Buy Canadian First member Garant.
