Kids in the Garden

Flower Power

Getting kids out into the garden has loads of benefits- fresh air, healthy activity, a chance for a family activity, opportunity to grow food to eat, learning a useful skill and the joy and pride that comes of watching plants grow....

Did it grow yet?!

So what do kids need? It has to be fairly easy - and it has to happen pretty fast.

Ive tried gardening with the kids before but they tend to lose interest rather quickly and we have tended to end up with a weed patch!

This week my 8 year old started asking for "a Garden of his own" again and I realised I had all I needed on hand to make the perfect kid friendly garden - a no-dig garden.

Quick and simple- The NO-DIG GArden!

Ive been delivering catalogues and community newspapers for the last month and so had plenty of left overs - as this is the essential first step in a no dig garden.

I suggested we get straight to work (saves overloading the recycling bin!). This could be a handy tip for anyone who doesnt have piles of newspapers on hand! ( next time you see someone popping catalogues in your mailbox ask if they have any left over bundles you could utilise. It is best not to use those with high colour printing though so try and hunt down the community newspaper or the like.)

We soaked heaps of newspapers in a big plastic drum and wet the ground where we wanted to make the garden ( a area about 4 metres by one and a half metres in full sun and against a chicken wire fence). Next we spread the papers thickly over the ground- overlapping the papers to make a thick wet mat of mulch. On top of this we spread a bag of blood and bone and over that a bale of pea-straw.

Next we made a layer of some cow and horse manure and also some chook manure from a friends hen house. Over this we  put more straw.

The garden is then ready to plant.
We planted into pockets of potting compost using seedlings. If all goes well next season it will all have rotted down a bit and we will layer more manure and compost which we are hoping to make ourselves - it should be easier to plant then.

So far we have planted peas and beans ( to climb the fence.) Also some lettuce and a pumpkin or two. Some zucchini, capsicums, strawberries and a tomato plant.

Snails
To control snails we plan to use snail traps of beer. ( plastic containers buried below soil level around the garden full of beer). Also if the weather is dry apparently a trail of salt around the garden is very effective as snails will not cross it.

Water
Apparently this is also a very water efficient garden as it acts like a sponge. So long as it is very thoroughly soaked and is kept moist through the first three weeks it then requires very little watering even in hot weather- so we shall see!

Hope you enjoy gardening as much as we are!