When I was little, my family had several small garden plots, each about 4 feet by 4 feet, all in a row and bordered with long square wooden posts.  Each of the kids in the family got a plot to themselves to grow whatever they wanted.  My sister, Anna, grew pumpkins one year.  And I remember growing a mix of wildflowers. I think my sister, Becca, liked to grow carrots.  Most years we would simply grow whatever vegetable we felt like in the moment.  We always had at least one family plot for bush beans, and it was our job, as kids, to pick them.  We never liked picking beans, but we always loved tending our own plots and watching our vegetables or flowers grow.

It was a simple thing, but it turned work in to pleasure.  Now I’m all grown up, but I still feel like a kid who gets to design and grow whatever she wants each spring.

There’s something magical about taking care of a garden that will then take care of you.  Here are a few ways to involve the kiddos in that magic:

• Let them plant with you.  You can make the hole, and the kids can put the seed in.
• Let kids pick and eat veggies from the garden for snack time.
• Have the kids help look for and collect potatoes when you dig them up.  It’s like finding a hidden treasure!
• Make a little garden plot for each child where they can grow and tend whatever they want.
• Ask the children to choose a veggie from the garden to eat with your meal.
• Have the children paint rocks or sticks to use as garden markers.

My Grandad used to have a beautiful strawberry patch.  He would tell us to go pick some strawberries and we’d ask “where should we put them?”  He’d say “in your breadbasket,” which was code for “stomach.”

I have great memories as a child in the garden.  And now I get to share my love of gardening with my nephews and niece, and they’re loving it, too.  What ways are you teaching the kids in your life to love the garden?