Oily Rag - The Kids Garden

 Read more Oily Rag articles by Frank and Muriel Newman 

The garden is a wonderful place for kids to be kids, yet at the same time learn a bit about growing and the virtues of self-help.  Some children may be a little disappointed to learn that toffee apples are not a variety, and that candy floss does not grow on cotton trees, but those who persevere beyond these initial disappointments will find welcome rewards - like children not only growing greens but wanting to eat them!

The first thing about starting a children’s garden is that it should be proportional to the size of the child – small - and it should be full of interesting plants that are easy to grow and that kids want to eat.

Pretty much the same rules apply to a kid’s garden as does for a big-person’s plot: good fertile soil, in a warm sunny spot, and access to plenty of water. We recommend having a raised garden, because it’s easier to dig with a plastic bucket and spade!

According to our oily rag letter writers, the trick is to get kids involved from the very start. That includes talking about what sort of garden you should have, how big it should be, selecting the timber for the frame, putting down the weed barrier, dumping the soil, making compost, organising the worm farm - if you want one - selecting what to grow and where, when to plant, when to pick, and best of all how to prepare the produce for eating.

So let’s deal with these issues.

The garden only needs to be about a metre or so square, maybe a little more, so make the frame about a metre by a metre, or say make it long and narrow (a couple of metres by half a metre, but depending on what spare - free - timber you can locate) so little hands attached to short arms do not have a ‘reaching’ problem.

You could also use other edgings like stones, ponga or other logs, bricks and the like if you don’t have any timber handy. If space is an issue for even a small kids’ garden - or you are renting or likely to shift - then make the kids’ garden out of a barrel or another large container or a window box.

Use compost that is light and easy to work. Mix in some fertiliser like sheep pellets (no putting in your mouth please!).

We think a kids garden should be a fun garden as well as a productive one so we like the idea of planting things in addition to vegetables. Big bright happy sunflowers are fantastic, and birds love the seeds which can be collected from the heads once they have died off. Swan plants is another - it’s a full nature study in itself to see the caterpillars transform into monarch butterflies.

As far as vegies go, try carrots, lettuce, beans, sweet peas, pumpkins, cauliflower, and cherry tomatoes, that can be eaten whole by small mouths.

For herbs try peppermint (kids love the smell), parsley, rosemary, and mint. Add mint from the kids garden and a slice of lemon to a cool jug of water and you can delete fizzy drink from your weekly shopping list!

If you have suggestions for a kids garden then log on to our website (www.oilyrag.co.nz) or write to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei.

* Frank and Muriel Newman are the authors of Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag in NZ. Readers can submit their oily rag tips on-line at www.oilyrag.co.nz. The book is available from bookstores and online at www.oilyrag.co.nz. 

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