A Child's Garden

My six year old, Tristan, has his own garden.  The focal point of which is a still little plastic playhouse that he has outgrown, and a winding gravel path that we installed two years ago.  His garden has seen lots of dill, mouse melons and those obnoxious striped petunias.  He's had baby lettuce and baby beets and baby carrots and tiny ears of strawberry popcorn.  This year, I'm hoping we can orchestrate a more productive edible landscape, and possibly forgo the obnoxious petunias altogether.  To this end, I've recently purchased Seed Savers' Children's Seed Collection for him.

Seed Saver's 2013 Children's Seed Collection

Included in the collection are seeds for Taiyo Sunflower, Tom Thumb Popcorn, Rattlesnake Snap Bean and Grandpa Admire's Butterhead Lettuce as well as a little booklet telling the story of each heirloom, and information on how to save the seeds from each individual variety.

I've also extracted from my crowded bookshelves a few books to inspire new garden ideas, namely:

"A Child's Garden - Enchanting Outdoor Spaces for Children and Parents" by Molly Dannenmaier (hardcover now out of print)

This is a huge, gorgeous book with tremendously beautiful photographs.  The chapters focus mainly on landscape design and would be best suited to those with LARGE areas to devote to a child's garden. 

There is also a more recently published paperback version available.

"Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots" by Sharon Lovejoy

An adorable book, with pages and pages of whimsically illustrated ideas for parents and kids.  There is A LOT of good information presented in a fun, lighthearted narrative, with easy-to-follow instructions for everything from medicinal gardens to TUB O' SPUDS!  You'll find something appropriate for any size garden space, including containers. 

 "Growing Up Green - Parents and Children Gardening Together" by Alice Skelsey & Gloria Huckaby

This book was published in 1973 and is now out of print, though several used copies are available at Amazon.  As a homeschool mom, this is my favorite -- it covers keeping a naturalist's notebook, arranging flowers using Feng Shui, spore and seed prints, terrariums, bonsai and more.  It includes biographies of various scientists, like Charles Darwin, George Washington Carver, Rachel Carson, etc.  And of course provides information about seed starting, harvesting and preservation.  And more!!  Phew!  Illustrated using black and white photographs (of lots of shirtless dudes) and simple line drawings.  Highly recommended!


A simple search yields dozens more books on the subject of gardening with children, but the above three cover such a broad swath of ideas, instruction, techniques and history that I can't imagine needing more.  At least not until our next trip to the bookstore.