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How Does Your Garden Grow?
Teaching Your Child the Art of Gardening By Julia Rosien
Onions Plant onions from seeds as soon as the ground thaws. Don't worry about frost or the occasional snowfall. These plants love a challenge and survive almost any weather. Ignore them, and don't water too much. Pull them when they're young for green onions in salads or wait until the plant begins to droop in late August for bigger onions. Hang them to dry in a basement or garage and they'll last all winter.
Nasturtiums These enchanting edible flowers will grow in a crack in the pavement if allowed. Their charming heart-shaped leaves trail along planters or act as edging for a garden. Ignore them; don't water or fertilize. The worse the conditions, the more flowers the plant produces. What child wouldn't delight eating leaf and flower in a salad they grew themselves?
Radishes The fastest food in any garden: one month from start to stomach. Plant them inside or outside in the ground or a container early spring to late summer. Pick the ones with the biggest leaves first, and cut their little red heads into a salad or eat them right out of the garden. Really! Try it. If your little gardener is too nervous eating something out of the dirt, add them to a salad with Alexander's Ranch Dressing.
Cucumbers The most prolific grower by far! These greedy plants take little encouragement to spread their vines. Plant them where they have lots of room to grow, and watch as bright yellow flowers and big green leaves appear. Send your child to the cucumber patch to hunt under leaves, and search for the delights growing just out of sight. Put the cucumbers to good use by making Fresh Garden Pickles. Be prepared to donate cucumbers and your homemade pickles to neighbors, relatives and passing strangers as these plants produce, produce, produce.
A whole world o learning waits for you and your child in your backyard or on the patio. Take your time, and enjoy watching her find a caterpillar or grasshopper. Teach her the difference between good pests and bad pests. Show her how to weed so her plants grow strong and healthy. Best of all, the next time you ask her where pickles come from, she can point to her own garden.