Kids in the Garden - Outdoor Living Spaces

Over 2,000 youth in our county 4H program will be coming together mid-July. As the final weeks of 4H will be just around the corner, my oldest has been working on a plan for her gardening project for the third grade division.

We have been talking about they type of flowers and veggies that we want to grow in our backyard and around the house. Ultimately our goal is to have yard where we have a variety of produce and herbs that blend naturally into our landscape.

This year we began a project of converting the backyard drain spouts to run into rain barrels, where the water is used for our plants. Over the course of the last few years, we have begun to notice the rain water hydrates the plants so much better than the running tap water that comes out of our faucets through the city.  

We came across some gardening ideas/tips that looked very intriguing both on my end as mom, and second helping the girls learn to garden. It was just the "ump" I needed to help share how gardening can be fun at all ages, and bring some excitement to the kids in seeing how you can work to grow produce for your table, have flowers for your kitchen, herbs to help you stay healthy and add flavor to your meals.

Below are a few websites that we enjoyed reading that helped us in creating/planning a garden with the girls. In addition, please join me on our Hi Mamma Pinterest page where we have "pinned" other ideas for families in the garden. Absolutely love it because it is amazing to see what other gardeners have done in their yards/patios to help beautify their outdoor  living space.


The Top 10 Crops for Children
11 Ways to Make Gardening Extra Fun for Kids
Fairy Herb Garden
Why You Should Always Grow a Wild Card : Gardening with Kids
27 Garden Markers
20 Reasons Why it's Great to Get Gardening
Edible Garden – Part 2
Seasonal Produce Posters

Do you and your family garden? If so, we would love to hear from you what you are planning on gardening this year. Do you grow your veggies upward (like cucumbers) on a fence or trellis? One thing we have thought about is growing our lettuce right underneath our cucumbers (kind of like forming a tent of cucumbers) so that the lettuce (underneath the cucumbers) does not get "burned" since it likes cooler weather.