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Category: Kids

The Mossy Tree, LLCBlogKids
13 Jan 2014
January 13, 2014 0 Comments By Cori Oakley Birds, Compost, Dividing, Fertilizing, Gardening, Good Eats, Kids, Perennial, Renovation, Solutions, Spring

The New Year’s Resolutions for the Gardener

Happy-New-YearEven though the snow is still blowing and the temperatures are keeping us huddled around the fireplace, now is the time to start planning your gardens.  Here are a few New Year’s Resolutions I would recommend for the Gardener.

The Gardeners New Year’s Resolutions

1) Reduce Footprint

  • Limit chemicals in your garden and using eco-friendly supplies.
  • Instead of reaching for an herbicide, weed!
  • Don’t shower your plants with Miracle Grow,  plant in Jacob’s Premier Planting Mix to help establish and maintain healthy plants.
  • If your plants need a little boost, we love SuperThrive.
  • Compost

2) Save Water

  • 40 percent of average household water usage is in the garden.
  • Grow drought-tolerant plants such as these favorites:
  • Every time it rains,  save water in a rain barrel.

 

3) Attract Pollinators

  • Welcome birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators into your garden.
  • Avoid chemicals in the garden, and plant herbs and flowers to attract these important garden visitors.
  • Consider poppies, sunflowers, lavenders, herbs and other flowering plants, which are beloved by many pollinators.
  • Native plants are great at attracting helpful pollinators too.

Nasturtiums4) Grow Edibles … And Share the Harvest

Nothing tastes better than homegrown food, and you can’t beat the health benefits of freshly picked vegetables and fruits.

  • Growing your own edibles lets you know exactly where your food originated.
  •  Involving your children in kitchen gardens, help ensure they enjoy eating these foods later in the dining room. Kids who grow their own foods love snacking from the garden.
  • Have a large surplus? A wonderful way to share your harvest with those in need.


5) Save Work

  • Work smarter, not harder. Instead of running back and forth for tools, bring them with you. I like the Garden Bucket Caddy, because it attaches easily to a plastic tub for weeds. I use it to carry my gardening essentials, and sometimes a note pad, cell phone or sunscreen.
  • You can reduce those weeds from popping up later in the garden by mulching well early in the season.
  • Instead of watering everything by hand, set up drip lines and soaker hoses that save money, time and water.

6) Select Easy-Care Plants

  • Pick drought tolerant plants that require less work.
  • Ask local gardening center or master gardeners for easy-care plant recommendations for your area.
  • Avoid invasive plants that will cause future problems.
  • Native plants that flourish in your region and support your local ecosystem.

7) Resolve to sit in your garden once a week

  • Plan a date with your favorite person or your favorite libation and make it happen weekly. It’s the best way to enjoy the garden and the best way to keep an eye on things.
 8) Compost
  • The first step to having a healthy garden is building healthy soil.
  • Composting your yard and kitchen waste will save trash from landfills, while creating one of the best soil amendment products you can find.
  • Don’t throw away all that potential garden gold and make some magic that will keep your garden happy and healthy.

9) Out with the tired …

  • Tackle the trouble spot rather than putting up with it for another year.
  • Rip out that under-performing shrub. Replace that tired old crab apple.
  • Cruise the winter catalogs and magazines for some new ideas.

10) Pass Along Plants

  •  Gardening is all about sharing — plants, ideas, tried-and-true tricks and more.
  • Divide that treasured perennial and pass it along to a friend or neighbor.
  • Save seeds, they make a wonderful spring gift!

Happy gardening new year!

04 Apr 2012
April 4, 2012 0 Comments By Cori Oakley Kids , , , ,

Gardening With Kids

We spotted this expression on TLC.HowStuffWorks.com: “Garden activities for kids unlock the magic of growing plants, provide keys to the mysteries of living things, and open the world of beautiful flowers. By sowing seeds or planting gardens, you and your kids can share the wonder of an ever-changing leafy world.”

A garden is the perfect educational platform. For centuries it has inspired poetry, physical activity, conversation, art and many more of the good things in life! We can’t think of a more well rounded classroom for kids.

Many of us have fantasized about working with our kids in the garden, but how can it be achieved? You want young Junior to enjoy gardening as much as you do, but what if he’s just not interested? His short attention span is not that conducive to the time that your flower beds require.

Turn tasks into games. What kid doesn’t want to be pushed around in a wheel barrow? Pick a bouquet of flowers and deliver it to your neighbor. Even weeding is fun if it is placed in the context of a race! Decorate flower pots. Eat the veggies after rinsing them off with the garden hose. Personify the flowers with silly names. There are endless ways to have fun while learning and growing.

Check out this Sunflower Playhouse! Sunflowers grow really tall, really fast, and provide a shady, living structure for your kids.

Do you have a specific landscaping design that needs to be maintained, and that would be compromised by kindergarteners with rakes running willy-nilly every which way? Consider dedicating a certain area to their schemes. If they have the freedom, guided by you of course, to choose which veggies or flowers to grow, and are somewhat responsible to care for that designated square footage, they are a lot more likely to learn and enjoy the process.

Here are a few practical lessons to be learned in your outdoor classroom:

1. What is edible and what is not.

2. The break down of materials in your compost pile.

3. The basic necessities that living things have.

4. How weather conditions affect the plants.

KidsGardening.org points out, “Gardening with your kids or grandkids at home or at a community garden not only provides the tangible benefits of exercise and fresh food, it also fosters communication, builds strong relationships, and offers an opportunity to work towards a common goal.”