First lady Michelle Obama planted a vegetable garden this Spring on the White House yard. This has not been done in a very long time but it is something she wanted to do with her two young daughters, Sasha and Malia. She thought it would be great to have such close access to fresh vegetables to eat but she also thought it was important for her girls to learn how to take care of something. Creating a garden for children to enjoy and work on is a great gift and one that they will never forget. There are different types of gardens that you can do with your children and in a variety of sizes and locations. If you have a nice flat piece of land, you may want to do a large vegetable garden like the Obamas. If you live in an urban setting and just have a small outdoor area, planting flowers and vegetables in pots may be the best way. If you live in a harsher climate you may have minimal plants to work on and decorate your garden more with saint statues or Virgin Mary statues. Whatever type of garden you do, the following steps can get you started.
Once you have decided what type of garden you want to do with your kids, you need to pick the best location. It needs to get plenty of sunlight and not too shaded by trees or a building. The more open the area, the better. If you do not own a power tiller you can rent one from any home improvement store. This will help get the earth all turned up and ready. After you till the ground, use a rake to gently flatten the area. A chicken wire fence should be installed around the area if you are doing a vegetable garden to keep little critters from eating your veggies. Based on the size of the garden area, decide how many plants will fit and what types you would like to have. Involve the children in this decision making process. If you are doing flowers, have them tell you what their favorite colors are and if you are doing a vegetable garden, get their input of what type of veggies they would like to grow. It is proven that if involved the a vegetable garden, kids are more likely to eat vegetables that they grew themselves. If they want to buy decorations like saint statues or Virgin Mary statues for the garden that is fine too. Once you have purchased all of the plants, get the kids some work gloves and little shovels and have them start digging small holes to plant the seeds and/or plants. Be sure to saturate the garden with water thoroughly and water it every day. Another good project for the kids to do , especially in a vegetable garden is to make marker signs for the plants.
\"Chicken Wire Fence\"
Growing a garden benefits kids in teaching them responsibility of taking care of a living thing and a sense of pride in being successful at it.
Chuck R. Stewart recently looked into purchasing a few saint statues [http://www.saint-statues.com/servlet/the-template/saintstatues/Page] and Virgin Mary statues [http://www.saint-statues.com/servlet/the-template/ourladystatues/Page] especially nice for the girls who had just celebrated their First Communion.