null

ASK MARTHA: Gardening with Kids

Starting an easy kids’ vegetable garden

Question: Hi Martha, I love gardening and want to involve my kids more so they can learn, too. How do I plant a garden especially for them?

Martha: My clearest memories of my childhood on Elm Place in Nutley, New Jersey involve the garden and the many hours I spent there in the company of my father. We had a small place, only a fifth of an acre, but it was so well designed and planted that our family of eight enjoyed fruits, vegetables, and flowers throughout the summer.

I recall really delicious tomatoes, fragrant white peaches, and crisp McIntosh apples my mother made into superb applesauce. What we made will always be an important part of my childhood, but the actual way we grew things has become part of my everyday gardening habits and a real part of my life’s work.

Dad grew everything from seeds he sent away from catalogs. Choosing the vegetables was a big decision each year, and the tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers were always started in cut-down milk cartons arranged on windowsills and under grow lights on the kitchen table. That we shared the table for months with myriad seedlings was just part of growing up.

As my story illustrates, children are curious about the natural world, and growing a garden full of their favorite vegetables, fruits and herbs is a perfect opportunity to teach them the fundamentals of gardening, as my father did with me. And the added benefits such as building self-confidence, responsibility, creative skills and increased physical activity are lessons well learned and enjoyed. 

The path to homegrown is worth every ounce of time and effort. Here are some useful steps to consider before you start planting with your kids and a helpful list of good starter plants. I hope you enjoy introducing your children to the joys of gardening! Follow these simple, but necessary steps to create the best growing environment for their new garden. 

PLANNING

  • Must-haves for a vegetable garden are a level or gently sloping site with six to eight hours of sun daily. Fertile soil is also needed, as well as regular watering. 
  • Planting without a plan is too risky. Involve your children by sketching your designs, bearing in mind each plant's potential size. Make sure to place larger plants where they won't overshadow shorter ones. (Choose compact varieties if you have limited space). You can always dig more beds or enlarge pre-existing ones in subsequent years. A sample garden layout is included below.
  • Loamy, well-drained. nutrient-rich and slightly acidic soil (6 to 6.8 pH) is the ideal environment for most vegetables. I recommend Miracle-Gro® Organic Raised Bed & Garden Soil to give your garden a healthy start. 
  • Concentrate on your family’s favorite produce; that way the kids will be eager to grow what they like to eat. Good vegetables for beginners are listed below and include carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, herbs, and salad greens. 
  • Know your garden zone: https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/ Where you live will determine what grows best in your region (and, importantly, when to plant). 
  • For a small yard, choose compact, high-yielding crops such as tomatoes and pole beans (which grow vertically) and lettuces; avoid sprawlers such as melons and squashes (winter and summer varieties).

MARTHA’S TIP 

There's no need to struggle with what nature gave you; raised beds allow you to create the ideal growing conditions, with better sunlight and soil that warms up more quickly than in-ground beds. Note that because these boxes are self-contained, you will need to water them more frequently.

PLANTING

Many vegetables are best grown from seeds. Try a combination of seeds and starter plants. For first time gardeners, purchasing starter plants from your local nursery is very helpful or visit Bonnie Plants website. Not only will they grow more quickly, but you will also be able to select varieties that are well-suited to your zone and area.

WEEDING 

Weeds are party crashers that take up light, space, and water. Just before weeding, water the soil to help weeds come out more easily. Show your kids how to pull the whole weed, roots and all. It's best to pull weeds when they're small so you don't disturb other plants, and it's easiest if kids use their hands, but they should wash them afterward. 

WATERING 

Most people water plants too often but not well enough. It’s best to keep an even moisture level. Watch your plants and feel the soil. Droopy leaves and hard, cracked soil are indicators it's time to water. Don't just sprinkle - make sure the soil gets soaked. Give your garden its drink in the morning so sunshine will dry the foliage and deter funguses. 

KEEPING A JOURNAL 

A garden journal is like a diary for your plants. Make a page for each plant. Encourage your kids to write every week, including weather events and growing notes such as "first carrot sprouts appeared" or "bugs on tomato leaves." 

HARVESTING 

Harvest your crop according to the schedule on plant labels and seed packets. If you want tender, tiny beets or carrots, pull them a little early; for fat, juicy ones, let them grow longer. Peppers and tomatoes will tell you they're ready by their color. 

KEEPING A JOURNAL 

A garden journal is like a diary for your plants. Make a page for each plant. Encourage your kids to write every week, including weather events and growing notes such as "first carrot sprouts appeared" or "bugs on tomato leaves." 

HARVESTING 

Harvest your crop according to the schedule on plant labels and seed packets. If you want tender, tiny beets or carrots, pull them a little early; for fat, juicy ones, let them grow longer. Peppers and tomatoes will tell you they're ready by their color. 

WHAT TO PLANT

BEANS

(3 plants per bed) Two or three plants produce a hearty crop. Try unfamiliar varieties in crayon colors or kooky shapes: 'Gold Marie,' 'Purple Peacock,' and Vigna unguiculata (or foot-long bean). Sow seeds one-inch deep and two-to-three inches apart. Sow three seeds for each plant, and thin after they sprout. Bush beans need no staking; pole beans want something to climb on. Beans like full sun and plenty of water. Fast to germinate (7 to 14 days) and harvest (65 to 70 days); the more you pick, the more you'll get. 

TOMATOES

(2 plants per bed) Begin with seedlings; we chose 'Cherokee Purple' and 'Balcony Yellow,' two colorful heirloom varieties. Buy them from a reliable grower, and don't wait too long into the season to get them. Look for compact, full plants, but don't despair if all you see are leggy ones-remove the bottom three inches of leaves and bury the bare stem, along with the roots, in the soil; it will root along the stem. Space plants 30 inches apart in full sun. Stems are brittle, especially once they're supporting fruit, so cage or stake the plants right away. 

SQUASH

(2 plants per bed) Squashes are easy to grow but need extra warmth. Two to three weeks after the last frost, make two mounds of dirt in each bed. Mounds heat up quickly; sow five or six seeds in each. After sprouts appear, thin to the best single seedling. Squash plants generally grow big stems and leaves that can crowd out other plants. For our small beds, we chose little fluted 'Sunburst' pattypan squash and round 'Ronde de Nice' zuc­chini, as both have less vine and foliage. They're also delicious, sweet, and cute-as all kids' vegetables ought to be.

CARROTS

(1 row per bed) Soil must be loose and rock free to get a long, tapered root. Carrots like it cool, so plant early in the season.  Space carrots 3 to 4 inches apart in full sun. Carrots tolerate partial shade, which can be beneficial in hot climates. Thin the emerging seedlings to two or three inches apart. Mound up soil on the shoulders of the roots as they mature to keep them sweet and tender. In 70 to 75 days, pull them up and plant another crop for autumn.

HERBS

(1 plant of each in pizza pot) Basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage, and chives are sun lovers and easy to grow. Basil and chives suffer if dried out, so keep them evenly moist. Buy small plants that are compact and full. A few weeks after the last frost, plant them in a big terracotta strawberry pot. With its many pockets set at different levels, this is an attractive container for herbs. With basil, pinch the buds to prevent the plants from flowering and to encourage side branching. You want full, leafy basil plants with lots of dark leaves, not leggy flowering ones.

PEPPERS

(1 plant per bed) Many pepper varieties have wonderfully intriguing colors and flavors. We planted the glossy purple 'Blackbird' in the beds and a miniature pepper called 'Jingle Bell' in the pizza pot. Peppers are easily grown from small plants. Don't rush your crop; soil temperature should be 65 degrees or warmer.

Space them 20 inches apart. Pinch the -first blossoms to help establish the plants and promote a better second flowering and fruiting. Peppers are a fast crop-in 70 to 80 days, you'll have something crunchy to put on top of a pizza. 

BEETS

(1 row per bed) Beet seeds look big but are actually a large seed coat with a cluster of tiny seeds inside. Sow them thickly 1/2 inch deep, two to three weeks before the last frost date. (We planted 'Chiogga,' a beauty with interior rings of pink and white.) Each makes more than one plant, so thin seedlings to four to six inches apart by cutting away the leaves instead of pulling the roots from the ground so you don't disturb other, establishing beets. Beets are heavy feeders and will benefit from the manure you've worked into the soil. Harvest in 50 to 55 days.

LETTUCE

(1 row per bed) Space lettuce starter plants 6 to 8 inches apart for loose leaf lettuce and ten to twelve inches apart for head lettuces. (We planted two loose leafed varieties-'Merlot,' with reddish, ruffled leaves, and 'Royal Oak Leaf,' with lobed leaves). Loose-leaf lettuces are usually labeled "cut-and-come-again," meaning they'll grow back after harvesting. Picking the outside leaves will yield more lettuce than cutting the whole plant at once. Harvest lettuce early in the morning for the best flavor.


Article by Martha Stewart, as part of the Growing with Martha Stewart partnership.