"Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime."
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To that I would add: Teach a child to garden for a lifetime of food and joy. Many of us caught "gardening fever" from an adult when we were growing up and now it's our chance to show a child the miracle of sunlight, soil, water and that kernel of life called a seed.
Quick and easy works best at home or for a school project. Recycle plastic form coffee cups and have each child poke a hole in the bottom with a pencil for drainage. Next, have them fill each cup, almost to the top, with garden soil or bagged compost. Big seeds are easy for tiny fingers to handle, so let them choose pumpkin, scarlet runner beans, nasturtiums or pinto beans. The last step is to make sure the soil is damp.
Choose a sunny window sill or patio for the "cup gardens" to grow. When the seedlings are 4 inches high, show the kids how to use a spoon to dig a hole and plant their prized crop.
Soon they'll be spellbound by red flowers on the vines that yield tasty crunchy bean pods, or their own Halloween pumpkin, or the sweet scent of golden nasturtium flowers.
For a science project, let them vary the types of soil, amounts of water, sunlight and fertilizers, then compare the growth rates on a chart. Take pictures and record the images for a display.
Creating a veggie garden is another project where kids can learn where food really comes from. They can add compost to the soil, turn it and plant easy-to-grow seeds such as radish, corn, squash, beans, leaf lettuce. Each Christmas, I prepare a veggie garden for a few friends. I let them choose from the season's appropriate crops, then I feed and turn the soil and plant and label the crops. In time, they will have a garden of fresh winter veggies in their own back yard.
This will not only give them a cherished memory, but you will teach them the lesson of self-reliance as a gardener. Watering their crops every day by hand with a spray nozzle on a water hose is a good chore for kids to learn responsibility, while at the same time they can anticipate that first exciting harvest. (The first thing I ever grew was a blue hyacinth in Illinois when I was 4 ... what was yours?)
Buy them a packet of seeds from that lovely flower we remember from grandma's garden, the Heavenly Blue Morning Glory, and let them transform a fence or mailbox into a beautiful landscape feature.
The seeds sprout into rampant, no-hassle vines that you can almost see growing - perfect for a child's short attention span - and the blue funnels will impart a bit of magic to each morning.
Children are our link to the future, and sharing with them our love of gardening can enrich their future while enhancing our lives. What greater gift is there?
- John A. Starnes Jr., born in Key West, is an avid organic gardener and rosarian who studies, collects, cultivates and hybridizes roses for the diverse regions of Florida. He can be reached at his new e-mail address: JohnAStarnes@aol.com
