Kids Gardening - Growing more than just food.

If you have kids, it's a great idea to get them gardening early. Teaching children to garden has many great benefits including discipline, teaching biology, encouraging love of nature, sustainability, responsibility, self-sufficiency, and building self-esteem.

from kidsgardening.org

This month, we'll be featuring several articles on family gardening, school gardening, and community gardening. We at Planting the Seed strongly encourage you to get your family (especially children) involved in gardening. 

Gardening isn't just a great way to improve your lawn (or your diet), it's a great way to teach and a great way to improve your community. This can be done by teaching your children (and your children's friends) to garden, starting or joining a community garden, or getting involved with  your children's schools to make sure that they teach gardening in the classroom.

from worldfooddayusa.org

October features World Food Day (October 16), a global movement to teach children and adults about current approaches to ending world hunger. Consider starting a family garden, to help teach your kids about the need for cooperation, aid, and education.

Here's a Parents' Primer to help you get started:

"Many other writings on kids' gardening start with what to grow and how to design and build a kids' garden, prepare soil, and plant, but this primer is not just about creating one garden for your kids. It's about taking advantage of "gardening moments" with your kids every week in your own backyard ... and front yard and in the garage and at the windowsill and in the basement ...

Through the seasons there are big projects and little opportunities for gardening with kids that can fit seamlessly into your life. This primer will help you learn to recognize those opportunities and turn your kids'questions into fun discoveries. And you'll get the garden-building basics too!" (kidsgardening.org)

Chapter 1: Gardening at Every Age 

(kidsgardening.org)