gardening Archives - Monterey Bay Parent

Yard to Table: Gardening With Children

By Monterey Bay Parent Editors | March 25, 2024

Growing your own food is incredibly rewarding, and doing it with your children can be a truly magical experience. Gardening with kids is a learning opportunity for the whole family. Together we can learn things like patience and responsibility. It can also aid in your child’s sensory and fine motor skill development. In our family, we like to remember that our garden doesn’t have to be perfect to provide endless fun and nourishment for our bodies. Creating a garden with your family is a wonderful way to connect, enjoy the outdoors, and learn.

We are fortunate in the Monterey Bay area to have a mild climate year-round, which is very helpful when starting a garden. My husband and I start tracking the sun several months before we plant to ensure our planter boxes are in the right location. If any tree branches need to be trimmed, that is done to ensure the right amount of sun for our plants. Depending on your space, soil quality, and desires, you can choose to plant in the ground or in planter boxes. Our soil tends to be mostly clay so we chose planter boxes, which can also protect plants from gophers and other pesky animals. Planter boxes can be bought or built pretty inexpensively. We built ours out of old dresser drawers, which was a fun arts-and-crafts project. The kids painted the outside with nontoxic paint, and us adults drilled holes in the bottom for drainage. You can also use pallets, scrap lumber, or feed troughs. Once you have decided on a location for your garden, your kids can help you fill it with healthy soil. Our kids enjoy getting dirty so they use their beach toys to really become one with the dirt. If your kiddo has an aversion to getting dirty, gardening gloves can be a great option. Once your soil is ready, it is time to plant your seeds. Some of our favorite things to plant this time of year are basil, carrots, chard, spinach, green beans, sugar snap peas, corn, squash, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, and sweet potatoes. If you plant your pumpkins in late May to early June they will be ready to harvest just in time for Halloween!

Each plant has its own requirements so some planning is needed to ensure everything has enough room and sunlight. The back of your seed packets should have all the information you need to decide where each seed should go. Remember that some things will flourish and some things may not. Every year is a surprise, so we make sure to prepare the children for the idea that the garden might look a little different than we planned. For us it’s all about the quality time we spend and the lessons we learn; the food we grow is a wonderful bonus. Our kids love poking holes in the soil and counting each seed they put in. Have your children help you create a map of your garden to remember where everything is planted. They can draw pictures of what they think the plants will look like. I also recommend designating an area of your garden that is just for the kids—that way they can dig and scoop every day and you don’t have to worry about them harming your vegetables. We like to have our kids plant native wildflowers in their area because they are hearty and easy to grow.

Once everything is planted, the patience and responsibility lessons start. Watering the garden is a responsibility our kids take very seriously. They like to use their water squirters. I fill a bucket of water, and they take turns filling the squirters and gently watering the garden. This makes the chore fun and keeps us outside longer. See what piques your little one’s interest. Do they like to practice plant identification? Maybe they want to read to their plants. The opportunities to learn through play are endless. After checking the garden daily, their joy when the first sprout is spotted is contagious.

When it is time to harvest, have your child pick out a special basket or container that they can use to collect their vegetables. It seems easier to have our kiddos eat their vegetables if they pick them themselves. It is incredibly rewarding to grow your own food and be able to enjoy the fruits (or vegetables) of your labor together. After your harvest, pick some kid-friendly dishes to cook together. There’s nothing better than homegrown spaghetti sauce! Whether your goal is healthy eating, quality time together, or getting the kids outside, starting a vegetable garden is a fun-filled activity for the whole family.

KAYLA MYERS is a veterinary technician, freelance writer, nature enthusiast and mother of two adventurous toddlers. Kayla was born and raised on the peninsula and currently resides in beautiful Carmel Valley with her husband, children and menagerie of four legged friends.

Gardening Science: Garden Experiments for Kids

By Monterey Bay Parent Editors | February 23, 2021

Spring is the perfect time to teach kids about growing things. Even if the ground outside is still hard, there are fun things you can grow inside. Try one or more of these fun plant experiments for fun and learning!

Beans in CD cases

Recycle a clear CD jewel case to grow beans and teach kids about the parts of the plant. With the empty case hinge side up, add some potting soil, filling about one-third of the case. “Plant” a bean concave side down (like the letter “n”) on top of the soil and let the kids water with a dropper by adding drops of water into the hole at the top of the CD case. Stand the “planter” upright in a sunny window and kids will be able to clearly see the roots reaching down into the soil as the plant grows out of the bean.

Colored Carnations or Celery

Fill a vase or glass with water and tint the water with food color. Place a white carnation or celery stalk inside and watch the plant become colorful as it “drinks” the tinted water. This is a great, short experiment to show how plants take in water.

Flower bulbs

Paper whites and daffodils are favorite early spring plants, and growing flowers from bulbs is a great science experiment. Use any see-through container as a vessel, from plastic cup to a clear glass or vase. Add rocks or marbles to the bottom of your container and place the bulb on top, root side down. Fill with just enough water to cover the bottom of the bulb. Observe the bulb as it grows roots and eventually a flower! Bonus lesson: Cut open an extra bulb so that kids can see the inside of this plant powerhouse.

Root Vegetables

Ever wonder how root veggies form under the ground? You can see for yourself–and show the kids–by planting root vegetables in a clear container. Clear Mason jars are perfect for this, but a clear vase or other container works just as well. First, fill the bottom of your container with pebbles, marbles or gravel to allow for drainage. Then, add potting soil. Plant any root vegetable seeds, several per jar. Try carrots, onions, radishes or turnips. Keep the soil moist and enjoy watching the root form. Best of all, when the vegetable is done growing, you can eat it!

Grow a Carrot Top

This is a fun way to see a plant grow, but it will not produce an edible carrot. You can use an end of a carrot from your veggie scraps, or buy a whole carrot with the green fronds still attached for this experiment. Cut off the carrot near the plant end, leaving an inch or two of root. (Remember, the root is the edible part of the carrot, so you’ll want to cut your carrot near the wide end, leaving the part where the green leaves attach for growing.) Place several cotton balls on a plate or shallow dish and add water until the cotton is moist. Place the carrot top on the wet cotton, orange side down. Help the kids check and add water as needed. The green plant will sprout within a few days.

Sunflowers

Sunflower seeds sprout and grow quickly, making this the perfect flower for impatient children. These seeds can be started just about anywhere, even in a disposable coffee cup. Kids love seeing the plant push its way out of the soil, wearing the seed husk like a hat! Transplant your plant to a flower pot after sprouting to observe the flower as it forms.

Grass basket

Grass is another seed that grows quickly. Make a living basket by lining a basket in plastic and filling with potting soil. Scatter grass seed on top and lightly mist with water daily. The kids will love using a spray bottle! This makes a perfect Easter table centerpiece filled with green, living grass and a couple of dyed eggs added for color!

Tiffany Doerr Guerzon is the mom of three creative and messy children. For additional information check www.TDGuerzon.com

Starting a Fall Garden on the Monterey Peninsula

By Monterey Bay Parent Editors | August 29, 2020

A conversation with Vania Fusco, manager of the “Green Basket” Facebook group.

Katie: Vania, I reached out to you because you manage the local Facebook group “Green Basket of Monterey,” and I know backyard gardening is something a lot of us are pursuing these days. Friends have mentioned wanting to get started but worry they’re jumping in too late; what would you tell them?

Vania: Many people think that spring was “high season” for growing vegetables and that their ship has sailed, but the next big season is just starting.

A fall and winter garden can be bountiful and easier to take care of than you think, as cooler weather helps retain moisture and keeps most of those pesky little pests at bay, two of the most significant issues for gardeners during the warmer months. Plus, with so many families keeping the kids at home during this school year, gardening provides an excellent platform for entertainment and relaxation. It offers a unique opportunity to learn about nature firsthand.

Katie: How do you choose what to plant?

Vania: The Monterey Peninsula as a whole is blessed with Mediterranean weather, and your specific location on the peninsula will determine what grows best. You’ll want to run a quick search of your hardiness zone by zip code (Monterey County is in USDA Hardiness Zones 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, and 10a) the most suitable planting calendar for that specific area.

Top cool-season edibles include beans, peas, chard, broccoli, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, kale, spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, cauliflower, squash, Brussel sprouts, and corn, among so many other enticing foods. There are so many tasty options that it may feel a little overwhelming, so to make things a little easier, I’ll share some quick tips to set you up for success.

Katie: Is there a way to avoid planting seeds–and then having to wait for them to grow?

Vania: One of the easiest ways to start your edible garden is by regrowing veggies. And a bonus — it’s free. You’re repurposing bits of food that you already purchased; why not put those to good use? Starting from seed takes longer, and different seeds have different needs. Regrowing is extremely simple. It’s half-way there already. Items you can easily regrow during the cool season include lettuce, radicchio, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, broccoli, garlic, beets, carrots, celery, and more. For the most part, you need to keep an inch or more of the heads or sprouts in fresh water for a few days before you transplant them into the soil. I suggest potatoes for first-time gardeners, as they are quite low maintenance, they produce generously, and they sprout in no time. Just place a few potatoes and an onion in a paper bag, leave it in a dark pantry space for a few days, and the potatoes will be full of sprouts that you can cut out and place straight in the soil.

Katie: If I don’t have much outdoor space is there anything I can actually grow indoors?

Vania: If you are willing to use a little of that indoor space, you’ll be amazed by the array of goodies you can grow year-round. I keep celery, basil, peppers, herbs, and tomatoes in our kitchen for a year-round bounty that uses just a few old yogurt containers in our window sill. You can also be an “herb ninja” and secretly hide small containers of herbs inside your larger planters around the house, or create some small “greenhouse” areas in your yard to allow you to grow items that do not particularly like the colder temps.

We moved to Pacific Grove a few years back and almost gave up on gardening until we learned that some of our favorite crops would grow here — like tomatoes if you choose smaller or early harvest varieties. One of our neighbors gifted us some Paul Robeson tomato plants, which not only stand the PG fog but also happen to be amazingly juicy and flavorful. This is the same neighbor who loves to say that he grows peppers in Pacific Grove. Indoors, that is.

Katie: Do I need to protect my garden when it gets colder?

Vania: If your neighborhood gets unusually chilly in the fall and winter, you can cover many veggies on a shoestring budget. For smaller vegetables, use an empty bottle or milk jug, cut the base and use it to protect your plant; for larger veggies, we use a tomato cage with a plastic bag over it. We also covered our raised beds with large poster frames we got from Last Chance Mercantile at just $0.25 each. They keep the soil warm and cozy, and it allows us to trim a bowl full of salad greens a few times a week.

Katie: What should a beginning gardener start with?

Vania: Potatoes are perfect for beginners, along with gem lettuce, perpetual spinach, and green beans. My favorite vegetable to grow during the cool season is squash, especially kabocha squash. It is so amazingly flavorful, versatile and you can store it for a full year.

As we say in our group, share the bounty, and harvest happiness.

Katie: Thank you, Vania!

To look up your hardiness zone check: www.plantmaps.com

For planting schedules: www.ufseeds.com/learning/planting-schedules

For the Green Basket of Monterey: www.facebook.com/groups/352324522076936

Katie Raquel is the founder of Katie’s Coldpress, a Realtor with Over the Moon Realty and the author of SQUEEZED: The Raw Truth About Work-Life Balance. She lives with her family in Monterey County.

Dig This! 10 Big Benefits of Gardening with Kids

By Monterey Bay Parent Editors | March 25, 2020

Most parents want their children to get outside away from phones, TV and video games, and gardening is a great way to achieve this goal. However, recent research shows that there are several other reasons to start a garden with kids. The benefits range from making kids smarter to making them healthier. Here are 10 great reasons to get kids gardening:

1. Students who garden score higher on science tests. Gardening is full of science. Children learn about plant classification, weather, soil, and plant pests and disease. They are introduced to botany in a natural, hands-on way, and recent research shows that students who had gardening experiences as part of their school curriculum did better on standardized science tests than students who were not exposed to gardening in school.

2. If they grow it, they will eat it. As a teacher, I’ve taught STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and have served as a Junior Master Garden club leader. In these roles I witnessed the “if they grow it, they will eat it” phenomenon. Students love to dig up what they have grown, and then curiosity gets the better of them – they want to taste it. Master Gardener Beth Tovi volunteered to mentor students in the garden for eight years at the elementary school where she served as a media specialist. She sees the nutritional and health benefits children gain from gardening. “With the growing concerns about obesity, diabetes, and even high blood pressure in children, gardening gets them physically active and outdoors. And children will eat anything they grow – even if it’s green.”

3. Digging in the dirt can make kids healthier. Several studies show that children who were raised on farms don’t have as many respiratory allergies, asthma, or autoimmune disorders as children who were raised in urban areas because children who live on farms are exposed to more microbes and fungi in the dirt. Letting children get outside and get in the dirt may actually make them healthier than keeping them tidy, clean and inside.

4. Gardening strengthens emotional and interpersonal skills. Children who garden learn responsibility, patience, perseverance and how to deal with disappointment if the garden doesn’t grow the way they expected. How do they collaborate with other siblings, friends, or school mates to get the garden work done? These are character-building skills that research shows children reap in the garden. I witnessed this one year at a school garden when we had a drought. Watering the plants and trying to keep them healthy was an arduous task, and the students and I learned about perseverance and teamwork.

5.Gardening connects children with nature. When children garden, they gain ownership in what they are cultivating. I have seen my own children grow “attached” to the plants in the containers on our patio garden. As children become more knowledgeable about all the living things in the garden, they are less likely to be afraid of touching the plants, getting soil on their hands or being near bugs. They are no longer afraid of the unknown when they become familiar with what is in the garden.

6. Gardening helps relieve stress for the whole family. A garden can be therapeutic. Not that your fourth grader is battling traffic, raising children and feeling the demands of a pressure-ridden job, but even kids can feel stress, and the garden is good for eliminating it. In fact, a study in the Netherlands showed that after 30 minutes of gardening, subjects who had shown stress before they gardened had a “fully restored” positive mood. And if the adults in the family are feeling stressed, and they garden with their children, it can help the whole family feel more harmonious.

7. Gardening teaches kids to problem-solve. “When they garden, children learn problem-solving skills,” Tovi says. “They say ‘This trellis doesn’t work very well. How can we make one that will better support this kind of plant?’” In a garden, children ask questions like “What is eating this plant?” or “Is this tree dying?” Once children become absorbed in solving the problems in a garden, they want to research to find the best answers. “They become sleuths, starting in the garden and heading into the computers,” Tovi says.

8. Gardening is a good work out. Gardening is good physical labor involving muscles that don’t always get a workout. Even the most seasoned gym-goer may admit to being sore the day after working in a garden. Gardening involves stretching, bending, digging, lifting, pulling and raking. Gross and fine motor skills are used, and even the youngest gardener with simple tasks gets physical activity.

9. Gardening helps children become environmental stewards. When children start reaping the food and flowers that come from a garden, they realize a garden’s impact on them and their impact on the garden. Once they have this tangible experience, it is much easier to teach them to care for the environment.

10. Gardening can lead to a longer life. Studies show that adults who garden in their later years live longer. Instead of living a sedentary life, gardeners get off the couch and are active in nature. Teaching children good habits when they are young will make them more likely to follow them through life.

Sow the seeds of a garden with your child today, and see them reap the benefits for a lifetime.

Janeen Lewis is a freelance journalist and mother of two. She loves to teach gardening to children.

Playing in the Dirt! Spring Gardening With Your Kids

By Monterey Bay Parent Editors | February 22, 2018

The Monterey Peninsula is a fantastic place to grow a garden. It is especially good for starting a garden with kids, as the climate and long growing season make the whole process much more forgiving than it would be elsewhere. I have no green thumb (in fact, I can kill a cactus in a day or two), but I have successfully grown a large vegetable garden two summers in a row. I used nothing more than basic raised beds, some hastily sewn seeds, daily (or when-I-remember) watering, and plenty of “help” from my young children. It’s pretty darn easy to grow a vegetable and herb garden here, and you can do it, too.

Here are some tips to get you started

Monterey’s growing season is nearly year-round, so the time to get started is now! Monterey has plenty of farmers markets, local nurseries, and big stores with gardening sections, so you have your pick of where to buy seeds or plants. You can build your garden boxes from a kit or from boards you measure yourself, but no matter what, make sure to put down a double layer of wire mesh under your boxes, to keep furry creatures (groundhogs and others) from burrowing up into your garden and eating all your hard work. You’ll need to decide if you want to start with seeds or plants. Seeds take a few weeks longer, but there is magic in growing vegetables from seeds, especially for young children. The waiting game is a fantastic exercise in forced patience. The first green shoots they spy will bring shouts of joy—an unbeatable moment for all.

When it comes time to choose your plants or seeds, you should let your kids pick out some vegetables they like or are excited to grow. After all, the real purpose of cultivating a garden is to have a final edible product, and it’s no fun if the adults are the only ones enjoying the fruits of all that labor. Even picky eaters could get excited about fresh vegetables if they helped grow and nurture them. Steer them towards vegetables that can be eaten raw, straight off the plant: green or purple beans, sugar snap peas, lettuces, cherry tomatoes, and carrots are all delicious and easy to grow. Here’s another tip: once the garden is in full swing, let kids snack on it whenever they please. If I send my kids out to pick beans and peas to go with dinner, and they come back empty-handed but have eaten their afternoon snack out there, I consider it a win. Vegetables are vegetables, and I don’t mind if they eat them right off the plants. It’s a fun activity for them to do with friends, too. Kids love to be in the garden, so teach them a few parameters (don’t pick unripe fruits/vegetables, don’t trample the plants) and let them enjoy it. Enjoy the growing Monterey has to offer, and start your spring garden soon.

Here’s a handy local guide for when to plant crops: https://garden.org/apps/calendar/?q=Monterey%2C+CA