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Grow an Animal Garden

April 28, 2012 By stacygrows Leave a Comment

When kids take ownership of their garden, it’s a beautiful thing. I’m a big advocate of letting kids pick out their own plants, giving them their own space or just make decisions about their garden in general. It’s just like cooking—if you let kids make it, they’re more likely to eat it. And it’s the same for gardening. If you involve kids in the early process, they’re more likely to take care of it long-term.

One of my favorite ways to do this is by picking out fun plants. You can do this with family names—my daughter Annabelle loves Annabelle’s hydrangea. And we are planning to plant Jack in the Pulpit this year for my son, Jack. Another way to create a fun garden is to choose themed plants. For instance, an all white garden, a daisy garden or one of our favorites—an animal garden.

My first book, a picture book, is about animal plants (Cathy’s Animal Garden). So I wanted to take a minute to give you a few more plants to try with animal names. I hope you have fun with this. Create your own unique space, and let the kids pick them out!

Animal Plants

Butterfly weed
Catmint
Tiger lily
Elephant ear
Hens and chicks
Leopard’s bane
Lambs’ ear
Dogwood
Bee balm
Spider flower
Cardinal flower
Tickseed
Monkey grass
Snake’s head fritillary
Butterfly bush
Dragon’s bloom sedum
Foxglove

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Easy Ways to Start Seeds Indoors

April 25, 2012 By stacygrows Leave a Comment

Start seeds by recycling toilet paper rolls.

Starting seeds inside doesn’t have to take a lot of time or energy. Some people have a complex seed-starting system that begins months out. They have everything perfected from soil and light needs to automatic watering. You don’t have to be that complicated, though.

Late spring is a good time for kids to start seeds indoors because once they sprout, you can go ahead and transfer them outside. (Many indoor seedlings fail because they don’t have enough light. They get “leggy” and start reaching for the sunlight. Then they become weak and fall over.)

So now is a fine time to start seeds indoors, especially for kids. You don’t need fancy pots, either. Here are 5 everyday items to consider using to start your seeds. Go ahead and test them out—or come up with your own idea. Even if they don’t work out, it’s still a good learning process.

Oatmeal container. Once it sprouts, move the whole thing outside and grow the plant as a container.

Toilet paper rolls. Cut them in half. Cover one end with paper towel and plant. You can then drop the whole thing directly into the soil.

Yogurt container. It’s plastic, so you can’t put it directly into the ground. But it’s still a good thing to recycle and use for starting seeds.

Old jars. They make great starters, and if they’re clear you might even be able to see some of the root system.

Berry container. An old berry container makes a great place to start seeds, and you can even close the lid to create a bit of a greenhouse effect.

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Tips for Composting with Kids

April 23, 2012 By stacygrows 3 Comments

Make sure you know what you can and can't compost.

Truth be told, I don’t exactly find composting an “easy” activity for kids. I think it can involve a lot—finding the right space, knowing what is and isn’t okay to compost and having the patience for it all to turn into soil.

Yet, I regularly teach a composting class to kids through my volunteer work as a master gardener. How come?

The thing is, kids love it. I mean, what’s more magical than throwing your garbage into a bin and then it turns into soil? So to make composting with kids easier, here are a few suggestions.

Explain what’s happening. Make sure to tell the kids what’s going on throughout this process. There are some great books out there that explain what you should and should not compost (Compost Stew is a wonderful picture book). Depending on what age of kids you’re working with, make sure they understand what’s happening.

Find a good tumbler system. Old school composting systems involve a lot of turning and mixing by hand. But if you’re composting with kids, I recommend getting a good tumbler system. They’ll like to spin it, and it speeds up the process.

Learn the difference between brown and green. If you don’t get this part right, then nothing else matters. It’s easy to come up with green matter like kitchen waste, but don’t forget to add brown matter like leaves and cardboard. The general rule of thumb is you need about 25 to 30 parts brown material to one part green. (To learn what is and isn’t okay to compost, take a look at my video.)

Designate a spot. You definitely need a spot to keep your compost pile or bin outside, but also designate a place to keep your kitchen scraps. They make some bins, complete with compostable, odor-eliminating liners that are great. If you have it out where everyone can see, you’re more likely to keep doing it.

Experiment with worms. Worms speed up the composting process, and kids love them! When I teach composting classes, we create mini environments with red wiggler worms, shredded newspaper and soil. In the gardening world, it’s called vermicomposting. Check it out!

Recycle, recycle, recycle. The bottom line is that composting is a great way to recycle. Don’t lose sight of that. Even if you’re not successful right away or it’s a lot more involved than you imagined it to be, you can still use it as a way to recycle more. It’s still a worthwhile lesson.

It’s okay to take a break. Many people stop composting in winter (if they live in a colder climate) or find that they go in spurts. This is okay! Don’t try to do too much, and take a break if you need it.

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Golf in the Garden

April 21, 2012 By stacygrows Leave a Comment

I love recycling in the garden. Rain boots as containers, old baskets as bird feeders—these are all great ways to add life to the garden without spending any money! Kids love it, too. In my new book, Project Garden, I have several ideas for recycling in the garden. Here are a few ideas from my book (and a few new ones, too), all using golf items.

Balls

I like making caterpillars out of old golf balls. For these here, I painted them first, glued them together on a cork mat and then added some eyes, faces and antennas. You can also use golf balls for plant markers (see the tees idea below).

Tees

Golf tees are begging to be plant markers! They’re already made to stick into the ground, so you just have to add something on top to write the name. Here, we glued on miniature flowerpots and golf balls. We can’t wait to put them into the ground in spring.

Clubs

You can pick up old golf clubs at just about any rummage sale or thrift shop in the country. Take one and use it as a flagpole. For this one, we suspended it in a tree using string. Another use for golf clubs is to put 2-3 together to use as a trellis or plant stake.

Bag

Old golf balls are great for storing all your garden tools. Use the pockets to hold seed packets and small items. Then store long-handled items like rakes, hoes and shovels in the main compartment.

Filed Under: Blog, Navigation Menu, Recycling

What Do You Do with Extra Seeds?

April 19, 2012 By stacygrows Leave a Comment

Make seed art out of extra seeds.

Most seed packets hold a lot more seeds than we need in a single season, but it’s still fun to buy new seeds each year. So what do you do with the excess? Here are a few ideas, perfect for kids. And don’t forget to pick up some seed packets on clearance at the end of the season! It’s a great way to keep the gardening fun going.

Create a seed mosaic or picture. Make an outline or use stencils to trace, and then fill in with seeds. It’s an easy way to create a piece of art that is truly inspired by the garden. In this picture here, we just used a paper plate and glue.
Pass them along to a friend. You could save money by buying your seeds with a friend and sharing. You could even hold a seed exchange!
Put them to the test . You can actually keep most seeds for several years, so don’t toss them after one season. Hold onto them and use them again the next year. Or over winter when you’re bored and it’s cold out, see if you can get a few to sprout inside. If they do, you’ll know you can still use them.
Make a special envelope and save them. Often times, the seed envelopes get broken or torn, so you lose the seeds. Make a craft project out of it and make your own envelopes to store the seeds inside.
Put them out for the critters. You never know what might stop by for a little snack. Put out your extra seeds near the bird feeder and see what comes in for a bite to eat.
Make a plantable bookmark. You can make your own bookmark with seeds embedded in them. Use two thin pieces of newspaper or paper towel and put the seeds in the middle. Then give it away as a gift—that person can then plant the bookmark and get flowers!

Filed Under: Blog, Gardening, Navigation Menu