If you and your child enjoy being outdoors, why not give gardening a try?

Depending upon the age and ability of your child, you will first need to decide together whether to plan a ‘flowers only’ garden, a vegetable garden, a herb garden, or a combination of flowers and food. We have a wonderful herb garden and my little one loves to pick her own parsley or snip thyme for a recipe. Sometimes just touching a rosemary plant and then smelling her hand makes her smile. The choices are as diverse as the child making the decision. The only constraint is the climate and how much space you have. Gardens can also be grown on a window ledge or a balcony or even in just a few pots around the kitchen.

Selecting seeds

Before you begin, keep in mind some basics. You are looking for low-maintenance, disease-resistant plants that will grow well in your environment. You will also need plants that will appeal to your child. The other important factor in choosing seeds with children is to find things that grow quickly. Little ones get very frustrated and worried about their ‘little plants’ if they take too long to appear. Keep that in mind when choosing your seeds.

There are lots of options. You can go to your local nursery to choose your seeds. You will benefit from having a professional available to answer questions and give advice. This is a wonderful opportunity for your child to choose his own seeds and gardening tools.

You could use seeds from the fruit and vegetables you buy. Keep in mind that sterilised or irradiated seeds won't grow anywhere. One way to test whether they are likely to germinate is to place a few seeds on a wet sponge in a sealed plastic bag. Put them in a cool dark place and then check on them every three days. If nothing's changed after three weeks, your seeds are probably not going to grow. Any indication of life means you can immediately transplant them.

Seeds may sometimes be taken from the seed heads of bought flowers or from your own garden. There are many good books that will tell you where the seeds on a particular flower can be found. After a few different tries you will become pretty good at working this out for yourself.

Starting seedlings

Once you've decided what to grow, the next decision is where. Whether starting outdoor plants indoors or planting a windowsill garden, being creative is half the fun. Yoghurt containers are good choices, because the lids serve as saucers. Pint-sized ice cream containers and margarine tubs work well for the same reason. In either case you need to punch drainage holes in the bottom before you begin. But don't stop there. Eggshells broken around their 'equator' and replaced in a styrofoam egg carton are a wonderful way to begin small seeds. When the seedling is ready to transplant, the shell need not be removed. Plastic milk cartons cut around their middles (use the bottoms, but save the tops) work well also. One young man I know started his seedlings in the bed of his plastic dumpster lorry. Remember that the idea is to have fun.

Choosing a garden site

Assuming that at least some of your plants are eventually going to make it off the windowsill and into the garden, where are they going to go? Again, a little creativity helps. Ideally a child's site should have good drainage and lots of sunshine. It should also be only about as wide as the child is tall. Any larger and it becomes too difficult for the child to manage.

I've found that an old, tiny, inflatable swimming pool helps here. Filling it with starter soil gives you a controlled, pristine environment. It's free from rocks, weeds and other nuisances. Or try an old washtub or a circle of old bricks filled with soil. When gardening, avoid using anything for plants that has been used for petroleum or other chemical contaminants or treated wood and old tyres.

Planting

Finally you're ready to plant. First mix a little bone meal into the soil to encourage root development. Then plant according to directions. Then have your toddler tear newspapers into strips and lay the strips, four thicknesses together, on any spaces that don't have seeds in them. Keep everything, including the strips, properly watered. This is a low-maintenance way to inhibit the growth of weeds.

In case of bad weather, use the tops of the milk containers as miniature greenhouses to protect your delicate seedlings.

If all goes well, your little one will be enjoying the fruits of her labour in a short time. It's definitely worth the effort to see his delight when that first little seedling breaks the ground. Another gardener is born. Happy planting.

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