Teaching your child to grow his own vegetable garden is educational and fun.
Have your child help you choose the area that will be used for his garden. Try to choose a spot that gets plenty of sun. A three-foot by six-foot garden is a generous size that will allow you to plant several varieties of seeds. Begin by staking out the borders of your garden and digging up the ground about ten inches deep. Be sure to let your child help with the work so it can really be "his" garden. Remove any rocks, grass, weeds, and sticks from the soil. Break up any hard clumps of soil. Mix some compost or peat in with your soil to provide a better growing environment for your seeds. Rake your garden over until it is smooth and loosely packed.
Now that your garden patch is ready you will need to decide what to plant there. The best things to grow in a child's garden will be vegetables that he likes to eat and ones that grow quickly and heartily. Take a trip to the garden center and have fun looking at all of the different seeds. Some vegetables that are quite easy to grow include squash, zucchini, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and carrots. Let your child choose the plants he would like to grow. Some easy to grow flowers can be sown in the garden with your vegetables. Children will have fun seeing their flowers grow and bloom and they can pick a few to bring inside. Marigolds are the easiest flowers for children to grow because they are so hearty. Get your child his own watering can and garden gloves to help him feel like a real gardener.
Once your child has decided what he wants to grow in the garden you can divide your garden patch into sections for each type of plant. Write the name of each plant on Popsicle sticks and put them into the ground in front of each section. When your plants begin to sprout your child will know where each thing is. Let your child plant each seed by poking his finger down into the ground and dropping a few seeds into each hole. After the seeds are in the hole have him cover them up gently. Make sure there are 4 to 6 inches in between each group of seeds to give them room to grow. After all of the seeds are planted let your child give the garden a good soaking of water and some plant food such as Miracle Grow.
After the seeds are planted your child may have to wait awhile before he sees any results. You can keep your child interested by having him pull weeds from the garden every few days and continuing to water his seeds. Plant food should only be given about once every couple of weeks but you should make sure the garden gets watered every few days unless there has been a lot of rain. While you are waiting find recipes together that you can make using the vegetables from your child's garden.
Once your child's vegetables begin to grow be sure to protect them from wild animals and pests. A simple fence of chicken wire can keep rabbits and deer away from the tempting vegetable greens. If you notice bugs on the plants give them an occasional spray with an organic pesticide.
Once your vegetables become ripe enough to pick make the harvest a special event. Make whatever vegetables your child has grown into the main event at dinner. Take pictures of your child with the vegetables that he grew himself and don't be surprised if he wants to have a garden every year.
