What are the easiest plants for kids to grow? Getting kids excited about gardening is great. There are so many things kids can learn in the garden. We don’t want kids to get discouraged or give up, so finding the easiest beginner plants is the best bet.
What could be more fun than a sensory garden for kids? Kids NEED sensory stimulation for development. All five senses should be stimulated to help children develop important pathways for learning in their brains. The more stimulation, the earlier, the better.
I really want to teach my kids where things come from. I wanted to show them how their clothes are made from natural resources like cotton. This year we are growing our own cotton. We harvested, combed, and spun a little of it so the kids can see their clothes are made from it.
The garden is a wonderful place for kids to learn, but how in the world do I plant a garden that kids work in and eat from? They’re not going to be able to plant or pick on their own. They’re going to make a mess of it. Do you think those things? It can be a challenge to make a garden with kids, especially if they are very young. I work in my garden with kids ages one to five. Even a one year old can learn a ton in the garden and help grow food. I can show you how.
How do you know what plant varieties to choose when you’re staring at a big ole stack of seed packets or catalogs? There are several ways you can narrow this down so you can choose the ones you like best. One of my favorite ways is to read all of the descriptions in the catalogs. I love reading those descriptions because they are like love letters about each vegetable or fruit.
It’s the time of year when seed catalogs start pouring in. I read a book one time where they called them farmer porn. They are pretty juicy and appealing. You could spend a thousand dollars and get more seeds than you could ever plant easily. Be careful and put some planning into what you are going to get to make sure you have room to plant it and aren’t wasting your money. Chose what to plant wisely.
Do you ever get so excited about ordering seeds that you double order? I do. It’s so frustrating! I pour over catalog after catalog. I make lists. I map out my garden. (Click here to see how to plan your garden) Later, I get all misty eyed at some garden ad or a new catalog I’ve never seen before, and I accidentally order something I’ve already ordered.
There are so many plants you can plant in winter in Oklahoma. February is a busy month for spring plantings. Check out the OSU extension chart for what goes in the ground from Feb 10-March 10. There are quite a few things on that list. If you are not in Oklahoma, check your local county extension office to find out what you should be planting at that time.
Don’t you just LOVE zinnias? I do. They are a burst of long lasting color all through the summer and fall. They are one of the ONLY plants that doesn’t succumb to our horrid heat here in Oklahoma AND they are tolerant of our drought like conditions that are all too common here.
Jerusalem artichokes, or sunchokes are a tasty, starchy tuber similar in flavor and texture to potatoes. They taste sweeter than potatoes though. The great thing about them is you can harvest them in winter when there is not much else to harvest. The plants are pretty, the smell nice, and they produce like no one’s business. In fact, they can be very invasive. Have you ever heard of them? I hadn’t until I was researching what kind of perennial plants we could plant in our preschool garden.
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Order some tubers and get a large container filled with soil. You don’t want to plant these babies in the ground or they will take over the whole area you plant them in. They are planted in spring. Plant them like you would plant potatoes, about 5 inches deep and about 12-18 inches apart. Click the small image above for buying choices if you want to get some tubers to start your own plants.
The tubers will grow all summer. They grow a tall flower similar to a cluster of small sunflowers. They smell nice and fragrant and look lovely in the garden. Harvest them after the first frost. A friend tells me if you harvest before a frost, the sunchokes will make you gassy. Nobody wants Jerusalem artichoke gas!
Another fun fact about Jerusalem artichokes is the flowers smell slightly like chocolate. Who doesn’t love a sunflower that smells like chocolate? You can take a few petals from the flower and rub it in your hands and smell a chocolatey smell. Sensory experiences are so important for kids, especially under age three. This is a wonderful sensory stimulus.
Your Jerusalem artichokes will grow back year after year. Once you do the initial planting, you will have food for years to come. We have tried them raw. We are going to harvest most of ours after we get a frost and try them cooked. You are supposed to prepare them like you would potatoes. You can bake them, mash them, or however you enjoy your potatoes.
The kids really love the treasure hunt of digging for food under the ground. Carrots, radishes, potatoes, and Jerusalem Artichokes are super fun for kids. What kid doesn’t love digging in the dirt? I know I still do. The tubers are small and clustered together. They are easy to dig up all at once.
One tip i have learned is to wait until after a freeze to dig them. They taste sweeter and more flavorful and some gardeners have said if you dig them before the frost, they cause lots of gas when you eat them. So….
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