Gardening with Kids

Gardening with Kids can be fun!  Get them involved in planting seeds, flowers and a fruit and vegetable garden.  It’s so good for kids to get first hand experience with how to grow a garden!

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Can you believe that it’s already time to start planting our gardens?  The start of gardening season sneaks up on me every year, and I think it’s because our transition from winter to spring is not very obvious.  One day it’s spring, the next day it’s winter.  Literally.  But then it happens, all of a sudden it’s May Long weekend, and suddenly we have permission to garden.  Oh the relief!  So I burn off to the garden centre with all the optimism a Canadian feels once winter is truly and finally behind them.  Because if the garden centre is ready and full of plants, it’s time right?!  Yes.

So on a sunny and warm morning this week, I ventured off to our local PC® Garden Centre and filled my cart.  It was one of those trips where I told myself that I would only get a few things, but then left with a trunk full of plants…and maybe the front seat too.  But who’s counting?  😉

Who can resist colourful planters full of beautiful and lush flowers?  Not this gal.  Nope, I left with 3 of these planters for our deck.  I just loved the pink and purple combo…

But my real goal on this trip was to gather plants for our edible garden.  The kids and I have been talking about planting an edible garden on our deck this year, and they want to be involved!  When kids want to help in the garden, I say let them!  Especially when it comes to growing fruits and vegetables.  I think it’s really important for kids to see and feel where food comes from.  It’s just too easy for us to get our veggies and fruits from the grocery store, so any chance I get to have the kids experience where food comes from, I take it.

This season PC® Garden Centres are full of bright and colourful planters, ready to grow.  We were immediately drawn to the colour co-ordinated pots…kids love the bright visuals!  Red cages, red tomatoes, into the cart they go.  So fun.

Then we loaded up the cart with seeds, companion flowers like marigolds and pansies, a flat of strawberries, a Garden Salad pot, tomato plants, fertilizer and colourful pots.  Now we’re all set to get planting our edible garden!  Although, I do have one more trip to make, and that is to go get the new PC® Triple Strawberry Combo…this collection contains three plants, one of each of Framberries, Pineberries and Strawberry Seaburst (you can see them in the online garden book here).  One of the things I love most about the PC® Garden Centres are their unique varieties of plants like these strawberries.  I always know each year when I visit, there will be something new.

Another new plant that I couldn’t resist were these petunias!  Aren’t they amazing?  They look like they were splashed with bleach. So awesome.  I bought 2 baskets 😉

My kid on weed duty.  Every kid needs to experience lawn dandelion removal in their child hood. Hahaha!

Tips for Gardening with Kids:

Make it fun!  Let them pick plant varieties that appeal to them.

Give your kids a special pot to tend.  Make them responsible for planting and keeping it watered!

Don’t stress. You have your garden, let them have theirs (even one special pot).

Get them involved with the harvest!  Having a fresh salad tonight?  Let them pick the lettuce.  Need herbs?  Let them pick them from the pots.  It’s so good for kids to see where real food comes from.

Make it colourful!  Kids love colour!  Colourful pots, colourful flowers.

This is the special pot my 13 year old son picked!  I love this bright and cheery purple and green combo!  I see gardening in his future.  Love that.

Will you be gardening with your kids this year?  Any tips?

Disclosure:  I was compensated to write this post for PC® Garden Centres, but as always all thoughts, images and words are my own.  They really have beautiful plants in their garden centres!