Now the weather is nice again, I do try and get outside as much as possible with the children. Now, this doesn’t mean days out or lots of travelling, as most of the time, we try to create fun in our own garden.
Apart from actually playing in the garden, the next best thing we do is to get down and dirty in the soil, gardening and planting. Not only is this a great way to get the kids outdoors, but it also helps them to learn all about the environment, how things grow, and to learn that they can make their own produce themselves if they look after them.
Each year we pick out a few various plants, herbs and vegetables, from seeds and work at trying to get them to grow, and stay alive too, through perseverance and a lot of love from us. We seek out what plants, or veggies we want to grow and then work out if we’d be able to do it from our garden. In the future then we may invest in a small Premier Polytunnels as these are great for growing produce and flowers that usually need to be in a high temperature environment.
This year though, amongst the parsley, basil and chives, we also decided to grow some lilies and lily of the valley, whilst also trying to see if we could get a dwarf apple tree to produce some goods. The boys absolutely love digging, planting and watering so that they can watch their own plants grow. And when that first sprig of green comes through the soil, that’s when you know it’s all worth it.
What I love most, is the educational aspect. At just 5 and 7 years old, both older boys know all about photosynthesis and how it works, how we should love bees as they pollinate every flower and plant, and how we should take care of the environment to help future generations.
For us, not only do we end up with an amazing garden full of colours and life from the bugs and bees, but the kids learn all about growing and get to samples the produce too. Let’s hope when September hits and the apples start to grow, that we get the sweetest ones and the kids can pick their very own.