Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! I got back from Alliston yesterday (more on that later!). I didn’t get a chance to post an at-home activity on Friday so I’m posting it now 
I’ve been reading about children’s gardens and looking at a couple flower beds in my backyard that I inherited and wasn’t sure what to do with. I do not have a green thumb- quite the opposite really. So when I read about certain flowers and vegetables that are extremely easy for children to grow, I thought, WOO HOO! I can do this!
After doing a bit of research I decided to try sunflowers, cosmos (flowers), beets and beans. Beans have the added bonus of being big so it’s easy for little fingers to plant. They all need lots of sun- at least 6 hours a day, and water every few days so be sure not to plant just before going away on vacation!.
Below are the days to sprout for these seeds:
- Cosmos: 5- 10 days
- Sunflowers (Choco Sun): 7- 14 days
- Sunflowers (Claret- red sunflowers): 7- 14 days
- Beans: 7- 10 days
- Beets: 10- 12 days
I went into Sheridan Nurseries with this shopping list and walked out with a whole lot more! My daughter decided she also wanted to try radishes, turnips, spinach and these colourful Dahlia flowers. (She would have picked up more but we agreed on only 4 more packets.) We also walked out with topsoil, and later I went to Canadian Tire for a tiller for my flower beds.
I had also wanted to pickup some sort of netting to keep birds and squirrels from eating the seeds we plant but they didn’t have anything for it so I decided to take my chances. Since planting I’ve noticed two spots (the exact same spots) that have been dug up every day so hopefully everything else will grow just fine.
Make sure to follow instructions on depth and spacing when planting. You can involve your children by asking them where they would like each flower or vegetable to be in the garden (provided the sun/ shade requirements are met), and they can plant the seeds. I used a glove to mark out the spots where the seeds should go and my daughter popped the seeds in the holes and I covered them up. We planted in two flower beds, one at the back and one at the front of my backyard, and in a small planter. I figure at least one area will work out!
After I was finally done planting (my son and daughter were playing ball in the backyard while I finished up!), my daughter helped water the plants and my son watered the grass (I wasn’t about to let him flood the garden after all that hard work!! 
). And to remind my daughter (and myself!) where we planted everything, I cut out the front of the packets, taped them on skewers, and stuck them in the appropriate spots. (I kept the left-over seeds with the planting instructions on the back of the packet.)
Materials: Seeds, topsoil, gardening gloves, watering can.
Cost:
- $1.89- 3.99 per packet of seeds at Sheridan Nurseries (the flowers being on the high end and the vegetables on the low end). You can also pickup seeds at Canadian Tire.
- Topsoil: $3.32 for a 30 L bag at Sheridan Nurseries, $2.29 at Canadian Tire (25/ 30L bag- the receipt doesn’t say and I already threw out the bag).
- Watering can: $8 at Canadian Tire
- ~$15- 20 for gardening gloves (I already had these so I’m approximating the price based on what I saw at Sheridan Nurseries. I’m sure you can get them cheaper at the Tire).
Activity Steps:
- Pour the topsoil into a planter or flower boxes.
- If planting in flower boxes, mix the existing soil with a tiller, hoe or other gardening tool.
- If using a planter, make sure the water can drain either by putting rocks on the bottom, or using a planter that self-drains (container has an opening that drains into a tray).
- Scoop some soil out where the seeds will go, making sure to follow depth and spacing requirements on the back of the packets.
- Put the seeds in and cover with soil. Lightly pat the soil with your hand.
- Water immediately and every few days thereafter.
- Tape the packets to a skewer or something similar, and put it in the appropriate spots to remind you where you planted everything!
Tips:
- If you want to keep it very simple and maximize chances of success, buy a self-draining planter so you can move it wherever you notice the most sun in your backyard and plant Choco Sun Sunflowers which are supposed to be great for containers. You can also keep the planter inside by a window if you’re worried about animals eating the seeds.
- Buy a fertilizer to use once the seeds have sprouted. I bought Green Earth’s Blood & Bone Meal 7-7-10 for $12.99.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Involved my daughter more at the beginning by showing her images on the computer of the flowers and vegetables that were easiest to grow, and having her pick them. Although I’m sure she would have still wanted to get more at the store once she saw how many more options there were!
Great post Mel! Your daughter has a green thumb since she chose radishes
They grow super quickly, you’ll be eating them in a few weeks! Re-plant some every 2 weeks to have a crop all summer long. We planted a ‘garden’ on our balcony 14 days ago and everything is growing great! We get 5-6 hours of light sun in the morning, so I planted things that didn’t need so much sun. We did: Spring Mix Salad, Chives and String Beans, all from the seed packets. We also planted the bottom of a celery and spring onions that I started in water inside, and they are doing great! My daughter loves tending to her “garden”, especially the string beans since we read a book about a cat that plants a bean and she associates it to her garden all the time now!
We didn’t use gloves when planting and she loved getting her hands dirty. But I saw some at the D-store for a few bucks. We bought a small watering can for $1 there since I figured a big one would be too heavy for my daughter to carry and use: it ended up being a wise choice since NOBODY else is allowed to water our garden now!
WOW thanks for all of those tips Nancy! I love that it’s really your daughter’s garden with her being the only one allowed to water! I’ll put spring onions on my list for next time (so yummy!). Nahla had a small watering can from before (from the D-store too!) but insisted she “had to” have a fish shaped watering can we saw at the store. Sigh.
I planted herbs last summer and left the planter outside all winter (apparently I was too lazy to bring it inside). Guess what grew back? Chives!
This is excellent Mel, thanks for sharing! I don’t have a green thumb, but really wanted some colour to brighten up the front of the house, so I planted some annuals and what a difference it made. My daughter LOVES taking care of our flowers and takes extra special care of her purple flower. She would love this activity! I’ve thought about doing it, but thought it would be more difficult/require more work than this, but you make it seem so easy. Thanks for the detailed instructions and the shopping list. We have quite a few animals, so if you do find something that’ll keep them away, please let me know. Thanks!
I watered the garden myself tonight! If I stuck Dora all over the garden beds I bet my daughter would be watering constantly
Apparently Blood & Bone Meal acts as a deterrent however can also attract other animals: “This substance has been shown to be effective in keeping deer, rabbits and other pests away from garden beds during the growing season. However, blood meal fertilizer also attracts other types of critters, including dogs and raccoons. If you are interested in blood meal use as a deterrent, be sure the substance will actually keep away the specific animals you are currently dealing with.”
I’ll keep looking and let you know if I find anything (maybe I’ll call Sheridan Nurseries and get an experienced staff member to talk to this time!). In the meantime I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll see the Cosmos sprouting soon!