Growing a new generation of little green thumbs

There are two types of gardeners, those who have found their passion later in life and those that been nurtured, like a seed, from a young age and just naturally grow into gardeners.

As a child growing up, gardens were all around me. My grandparents, my parents, my aunts and uncles, all had gardens and they all welcomed me inside to help.
Some of my fondest childhood memories are of helping my family in the garden. I remember my Nana’s amazing flowers, especially her blue morning glories climbing up the old oak tree in front of her house. That’s where I fell in love with flowers.

My dad’s parents taught me the value of growing your own food and the joys of sharing it with others. It was from family, my aunts and uncles and my parents, that I grew to love growing fruits and vegetables. Thinking back, it seems that so many of my childhood memories, and now my adult ones, have been sown in a garden.
Now that I am a mom with children of my own, I want to pass on the love of gardening that I grew up with. I enjoy having the boys help me in the garden, even if it means that we get sidetracked discussing worms or that my rows aren’t planted perfectly straight.

Sometimes it’s hard to think of ways to include children in gardening but it is through simple activities that they learn so much more about the world around them. Children thrive on knowledge and they learn from everything they do; if you want to nourish a green thumb all you need do is plant the seed and nurture it.

Just imagine the garden through a child’s eyes– the bugs landing on the plants, the worms in the dirt, or even just watching the plants as they grow. These are all exciting things to children. By exposing them to gardening you can help them learn about the growing process. You’ll be surprised by how much they retain.